Legacy
by Hydros
Summary: Third installment in the Fused saga. With Trigon down, Nevermore has become obsolete, so her emotions are being evicted into the physical world! At the same time, the purpose of Trigon's followers is unclear. How do the Seven Gems fit into the picture?
1. Oh, the Emotion!

-1Me: The saga continues! Last time, our heroes…

Raven: You know, Nintendo could sue you into oblivion for saying that. Does Pokemon ring any bells?

Me: Oh, true. Ok, Last time, on the Fused saga…

Raven: …Already been done by Yugioh and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers..

Me…Okay, fine! The Fused saga continues with part three: Bloodstains!

Raven: Imaginative.

Me: / Whatever…Fine. I'll think of another name later.

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"Another day, another adventure," Robin said to himself with a smile on his face as he stretched and looked at his clock. The familiar numbers 6:00 stared back at him, glowing their usual red. Dressing in his usual attire, he made his way to the roof to watch the sun rise.

Emerging into the morning air, he was surprised to find Raven in a sitting position, focusing intently on several objects. A penny, a teacup, a wooden box and a large rock lay before her, a mug of steaming tea sitting to the side. The penny rose up into the air, cloaked in her usual black energy.

"Er…good morning," Robin said, causing her to look up. She simply nodded and returned to the objects in front of her. Robin raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask what you're doing?" He asked her.

She looked up again. "I'm testing my powers. When we were in the jungle, the reason I got whipped so badly was because my powers malfunctioned. For some reason, they attacked Terra instead of protecting me," She explained. Robin's other eyebrow joined it's brother, surprised.

"Why didn't you tell me? This is serious!" Robin said, utterly bewildered. _If her powers are screwing up, she could kill someone! _He thought.

"Slipped my mind. Anyway, all tests so far have come back good. Azarath, Metrion Zinthos," She said, encasing the rock in energy and moving it around. "I seem back to normal. We'll see in training today," She told him. Robin grinned.

"No, we won't. Today's going to be a special session," He told her, leaving the roof and causing Raven to wonder what the hell he meant.

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"Alright guys, today's session is gonna be a bit different than usual," Robin told the other Titans with a smile. Everyone cocked their heads in curiosity. Robin just laughed. "Today, we're going to be working _strictly _on hand-to-hand combat. That means no powers, he said, looking pointedly towards Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy. Starfire grinned.

"Robin, you are aware tha-" Robin stopped her short.

"I was getting there. No powers means no Azarathian powers, no Starbolts or flying, and no transformation powers," He explained. Starfire frowned, her attempt to excuse her natural-born abilities shot down. Then she smiled again. _What neither he or I can stop, however, is my strength, _she thought deviously.

"Alright guys. I'm going to have myself and Raven take first bout. No holds barred. Fight as though your partner is a real enemy, like Slade or Brother Blood," He instructed. Leaping down from the platform, he put himself into a fighting stance.

_Heh. He still thinks that I'm bad with physical fights. Too bad he doesn't know about the sparring matches Beast Boy's been making me have with him,_ She thought with a smirk as she shook Robin's hand and mimicked his pose.

"Three…two…one…Fight!" Cyborg declared.

Robin made the first move, charging forward. Raven regarded him warily, attempting to gauge what he was leading into. Realizing that he was going for a flip kick, she ducked as he commenced the move. As he flipped, his belt flashed before her eyes, and she got an idea. Reaching out as he landed, Raven grabbed wildly at Robin's utility belt, coming up with a handful of Birdarangs and one of his staffs. Stashing away the projectiles, Raven extended the staff with a grin.

_Crap! _Robin thought as he realized what had happened. Ignoring the laughter from the other Titans, Robin pulled out another one of his bo staffs, extending it as well. "Shall we dance?" He asked with a challenging smirk.

"We shall," Raven said before swinging hard with the staff. Robin, infinitely more experienced with the weapon than she was, blocked the blow, pushing his weapon into the attack. The two locked staffs, each trying to push the other to the ground. But again, Robin was more experienced. As they fought for ground, Robin suddenly performed a leg sweep, sending Raven tumbling.

Raven grunted as she landed hard on her back. Reacting faster than she knew possible, she rolled left to avoid the brutal swing Robin made towards the ground at her midsection. Springing up, she regained her pose and changed into a more aggressive stance. Seeing Robin leap into the air with his staff ready to swing, Raven did the best thing possible: the unexpected. Aiming carefully, she launched the staff straight at the Boy Wonder, connecting squarely in the face and causing him to miss his jump.

Robin tumbled to the ground, his momentum caused him to roll a few feet. _She threw the damn thing?! _He thought, shocked. He was about to get up, but suddenly had an idea. Instead, he simply lay on the ground, causing Raven's eyes to widen.

"You okay?" She asked, running up and kneeling down. The instant she saw his hand move, she realized just how stupid she had just been. "Ungh!" She grunted as Robin rolled on his back and kicked her in the abdomen. Now pissed off, she used the staff for support as she got back up.

"Hey, I said no holds barred," Robin said with a shrug. From the platform, he heard Beast Boy say something about "dirty tactics," and "sleep with one eye open." Smirking, he began to circle Raven, waiting for her to move.

_Oh, so you want to play dirty? Alright, it's on, _Raven thought to herself mentally with an evil smile. Then she began to do something that she had recently found herself extremely good at doing. She began to fake tears, pretending to cry.

"How could you?! I thought I had seriously hurt you!" She "wailed" as she sniffled, causing Cyborg to forcefully restrain Beast Boy. Robin suddenly found himself feeling like an extreme asshole. He hated seeing a girl cry, and hated it even more when it was him who had caused it.

"Sorry…I was just trying to make the battle as real as possible," He said, trying to muster a soothing voice and moving over to place a hand on her shoulder.

Raven's tears abruptly faded into an evil smirk and accompanying laugh. "Sucker," She said. Turning around, she aimed the staff and delivered a vicious nut-shot with it. This produced a very interesting sound from the Boy Wonder, as well as gasps of horror and pain from every boy on the sidelines.

Robin fell to his knees in blinding pain, unable to make any sound. "Be glad I only did it once," She told him. Then she looked back to the others. "Judges?" She asked with a smirk.

"Yeah…Robin is unable to continue the fight. Raven wins!" Cyborg announced. Then he and Starfire rushed over to Robin, who was just beginning to form intelligible speech.

"Jesus….I may never have kids…" He muttered, finally able to stand again. "Alright, next match is Starfire and Drake, leaving BB and Cyborg to face off," He announced.

"You okay, man? Looked like she really lifted and separated," Cyborg asked the Titan's leader as he joined the rest of his team on the platform. Scowling as his response, he looked on as the two fighters made their way to the field.

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Raven didn't stick around to watch, electing instead to make haste to her room before erupting in laughter. Laughter that stopped seconds after it stopped.

"You know, Raven, that was rather rash. Humorous, but rash," Knowledge said with a small smile, giving her trademark gentle laugh at the expression on Raven's face.

"What the? Why are you…? What the hell?" Raven managed out through her gaping mouth.

"It would seem that we have been…evicted," Knowledge told her. Raven raised both eyebrows, and Knowledge sighed. "Come in, I'll explain further," The emotion told the empath, gesturing her inside.

"Ok, start explaining," Raven told her once she was seated on her bed.

"Alright… let me think of a good analogy. Ok, I think I have one. What happens when a business opens?" Knowledge asked. Raven furrowed her brows.

"Uh…it makes money?" She ventured.

"But how does it do that?" The emotion pushed further.

"Er….by working…?"

"And who does the work?" Knowledge asked.

"Uhm…the employees?" Raven said, confused.

"Exactly! Now, what happens to those workers when the business closes?" Knowledge questioned.

"The workers lose their jobs and find new one…Oh, hell no," Raven said, realization dawning upon her. Another gentle laugh and a rare grin confirmed said realization.

"Yes. Once you defeated Trigon for good, you gained complete control over your emotions. We exist, or rather, existed, to help you keep your emotions in check. You could never have held all of your emotions without us. And now, the 'business' of restraining your emotions is closed. Therefore, we no longer have a purpose inside of you," Knowledge finished.

Raven closed her eyes and took several deep, steadying breaths. Finally, she regained her composure. And promptly lost it again.

"Are you telling me," She said, frantically getting louder with every word, "that all of the embodiments of my emotions are being kicked out into the real world?!"

Knowledge winced. "Precisely," She said.

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"HAH!" Starfire cried as she let loose with another punch. She missed wildly, however, distracted by a loud scream coming from the Tower. Everyone looked at each other, than to the Tower, then back to each other.

"Ok, training's over for today. Let's go see what that was," Robin said worriedly. Everyone nodded and headed for the most obvious place a scream would come from: Raven's room. Reaching the doorway, they found a blue-cloaked Raven with her head buried in a pillow, and a yellow-cloaked Raven clutching her ears.

"Is it safe to open my ears?" She asked as she caught sight of the other Titans.

"I…think so," Terra told her hesitantly. Knowledge carefully removed her hands and sighed in relief. Beast Boy stepped forward, head cocked to the side.

"What the heck are you doing outside of Nevermore?" He asked. He began circling Knowledge, looking her up and down as though examining an interesting specimen of a rare animal. Finally, he jabbed her in the stomach, eliciting a small involuntary giggle from the girl. "She's real alright," He announced, turning his back at the dark look Knowledge threw his way.

"Yes, quite so," Knowledge said shortly, somewhat annoyed. At everyone's question looks, she sighed and repeated the explanation she had given to her former "employer," so to speak.

When she finished, all jaws in the room except for Drake's, Raven's and Knowledge's were on the floor. Raven and Knowledge already kneew what was going on, so no surprise there. And Drake…

"Okay, what the hell are you people yammering on about?" The former thief said, succinctly summarizing his thoughts. Raven, finally raising herself into a sitting position, sighed.

"Okay, when I was born I had a prophecy on my head. When I turned 16, I was supposed to destroy the world. Well, the reason for that is because my 'father' was an inter-dimensional demon known as Trigon. As such, my powers are driven by emotion. We circumvented the end of the world, and recently destroyed Trigon for good. But before all that, in order to keep my emotions in check, embodiments of various sides of me were created. Following so far?" She asked, pausing. Drake nodded.

"Okay, good. These emotions live in a place called Nevermore, a dimension inside my very mind. Well, apparently my emotions are being ejected from Nevermore now because they have no purpose there," She said.

"Okay…So, what now? I'm still in the dark here. And I HATE when that happens," Drake said with a frown. Raven rubbed her forehead.

"Alright, here it is in simple terms: There's gonna be roughly 8 of me running around here, each one in a different colored robe and a predominant manor of whatever emotion they represented," Raven said, unable to help herself from laughing at the expression that crossed Drake's face. And Robin's. And Starfire's. And Cyborg's. And Terra's. Beast Boy remained unphased, however.

"When will the others be coming?" Beast Boy asked, directing his question to Knowledge. She gave another small chuckle.

"As soon as you all get your heads on straight, really. We're going to need to use several of your guest rooms, of course. If you would be so kind?" She asked Robin. He gave a wry smile.

"You talk as if I have a choice," He said with a laugh. Knowledge smiled, then looked towards Raven.

"This may feel…odd," The yellow-garbed girl told her. Raven nodded and grimaced. "Let's step outside, so that everyone has room to materialize," Knowledge suggested.

Out in front of the Tower, Knowledge closed her eyes. "Alright, it's safe," She said to seemingly no one. And with that, multiple multi-colored bursts of energy emerged from Raven's eyes, ears, and mouth. Everyone's eyes widened as Ravens of all colors appeared in various places.

Raven fell to her knees, gasping. "You…could have…told…me…that it was gonna feel like…my brain was being ripped out…" She gasped out.

Knowledge looked at her feet.

"I did say it would feel odd," She reminded Raven. Receiving a Glare of Doom from her counterpart, Knowledge turned to the others. "Everyone make it out alright?" She asked. Brave, Happy, Timid, Wisdom, Anger, Rude and Love all nodded. "Good. Let's head back inside, shall we?" Knowledge suggested. Everyone nodded, entering back into the Tower.


	2. Shopping Spree

-1Beast Boy: Wow. 9 Ravens under one roof. Hmmm…that could be a reality TV show!

Raven:… Hm. Actually not a bad idea.

Me: Except Anger would murder everyone.

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It was just hitting 5 PM by the time all the emotions had finally settled in. "You know, it occurs to me that we can't just keep calling you guys by your emotions, seeing as you aren't emotions anymore," Beast Boy said thoughtfully over dinner. Cyborg was cooking extra for the newcomers, and the "doppelgangers" were seated around the table with the other Titans.

"He's right, you know. Maybe you guys should think of names for yourselves. Go shopping, get some new clothes. Separate yourselves out from Raven," Robin suggested. Knowledge nodded, biting her lip in thought.

"Yes, that would be a wise idea," She agreed. Then, of all people, Anger spoke up.

"I think…I think I'd like to be called 'Angella'," She said quietly, almost perfectly imitating Timid. Everyone looked at her, surprised. Knowledge smiled.

"I must explain. Anger-I mean, Angella, is the one emotion amongst us that loathed her purpose. She hated having to be the one that got stuck with the, ah, _unpleasant_ job. Now that she's free, she no longer has to be angry," She explained. Then, as an afterthought, "I believe I would like to be called 'Sophia.' Taken from the Greek word _sophos_. It means wise," The newly named girl said, nodding.

"Cool. Anyone else?" Robin asked, looking around. Brave raised her hand.

"I'm definitely calling myself Samantha. That'll be Sam to y'all though," She said with a grin.

"I wanna be Rose!" Happy said with a laugh. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Lilith," Love said simply.

"Budweiser. No, I'm just kidding! I'll be….uh….Carrie? Why not," Rude said with a shrug.

"I think I'll take Raven's maiden name, and be called Roth," Wisdom said serenely.

A few minutes silence. "Timid?" Robin asked. The girl in question looked around, remaining quiet. Finally, she spoke, barely loud enough to hear.

"Er…would Marylyn be okay?" She asked quietly. Robin laughed.

"Of course! What'd you think we'd say? 'No! Pick another name!'? Well, welcome aboard all. We'll go shopping for you guys tomorrow. Sound good?" Robin said. Although he was directing the question at the new girls, he caught Starfire bouncing up and down with glee in the corner of his eye. _Oh, boy, _He thought.

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"I shall take Angella and Carrie!" Starfire volunteered eagerly as they convened in front of the mall. Raven was torn between fear, amusement, and exasperation as the threesome dashed off with Starfire in the lead.

"Sophie, you and me?" Cyborg suggested, almost hopefully. The fling between himself and Liz had ended roughly two weeks ago, and over the course even just one evening, he had bonded with Raven's new "sister" over the T-Car and security computers. Sophia nodded and smiled. Raven's eyes widened slightly as she buried her face in her hands.

Beast Boy, on the other hand, saw this as most humorous, as did his new friends Rose and Marylyn. While still not exactly the talkative one of the group, "Timid" was already beginning to show signs of opening up, such as chuckling quietly along with the others. "Well, Rose, Mary, let's go!" He said with a laugh. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"I think I'll come with you guys: She added hurriedly, seizing the opportunity of ducking out of shopping alone with her emotions. Beast Boy flashed her a knowing grin that made Raven want to smack him. "Don't think that I won't hurt you," She muttered to him, jabbing him in the ribs. Beast Boy merely stuck his tongue out at her in response.

"Alright, Sam, Lily and Roth, we'll go as a group," Robin told the girls, leading them off into the jungle of stores. And so, it began…

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"You people better damn well not laugh," Carrie's voice rose up and over the dressing room door, causing her partners even more anticipation. Finally, Carrie stepped out in a plain, brown-orange T-Shirt and jean shorts. Curiously enough, the girls were decidedly favorable to their "emotion" colors, as evidenced by the large amount of orange, brown, and orange-brown clothing in Carrie's new wardrobe.

"You look wonderful!" Starfire told her, giving her a thumbs up and a smile. Carrie raised an eyebrow as she re-entered, emerging once again in her cloak. Throwing the outfit into her bag, she smirked at Angella.

"Your turn," She told the girl. Angella gave a nervous nod and stepped into the room. The red cloak flew up onto the door, clothing was heard rustling about, and finally Angella stepped out, causing both Starfire and Carrie to gasp.

She wore a ruby-red, flowing dress complimented by a pair of sparkling blue heels. Underneath the dress was a short-sleeved version of Raven's leotard. She looked back and forth between the two, awaiting a reaction.

"Uhm…wow. Fancy," Carrie said, lost for words. Angella's face brightened, and she turned quickly back into the dressing room. More rustling, and she stepped out again. This time, she wore a shirt similar to Raven's cloak in color with a red leather jacket tossed over. Plain blue jeans and black sneakers completed the look.

"Oh, Angella! Marvelous choices!" Starfire said delightedly. Angella gave another smile and re-entered the room again. After a few more showings, the three girls all took their bags (Starfire had done some shopping of her own) to be rung up. Angella was already wearing the purple shirt and red jacket ensemble, wanting to be differentiated ASAP from Raven.

"Hey, sweety, you got a phone on ya?" A guy behind Angella whispered to her. Startled, she whipped around.

"Uhm, no. Why?" She asked sharply, surprising herself.

"Well, my mother told me to call her when I found my girl to marry," The guy replied, smirking as he looked her up and down. Angella's eyes widened as she realized that the moron was checking her out. Grinning slyly, she reached into her pocket. Angella, while being initially shy in the outside world, wasn't entirely timid. After all, she _had _been Rage. So she snuck out of the clothing store while the others were busy in the bra department and bought a little something. Something like…

"Say again?" She asked calmly as she raised the BB gun up to aim directly at his midsection. The guy immediately shut up as his eyes widened. "Thought so," She muttered with a smirk as she put the gun away.

"A GUN?!" Starfire asked disbelievingly once the girls got out of the store. Angella smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?"

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"Not before I beat this damn thing!" Sam said, pointing a stubborn finger at Robin. In Robin's defense, Sam _had _spent over an hour in the arcades. In Robin's offense, Sam _had _been spending that time (and Robin's quarters) trying to get ahold of a silver watch placed tauntingly inside of a crane game. Robin sighed.

"No, Sam. We need to go meet with the others. We have all the clothes we need. Come on!" He told her with a wave of his hand. Seeing that she completely ignored him, Robin frowned. "Sam! Let's go!" Robin said more firmly, grabbing her by the arm. Feeling him do as such, she turned around slowly.

"I KNOW you did not just try to yank me out of this arcade," She said dangerously. Whipping back around, she discovered that the crane had tried and failed again to pick up the precious cargo. Turning back around, she gave Robin a death glare. "I owe you an ass whoopin' when we get back. Lily, Roth? You're witnesses," She informed them. All three of them just rubbed their temples and sighed.

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"Wonder how the others are holding up?" Beast Boy said as the three Ravens and himself walked past the food court. Raven snorted, not even wanting to think of the fate that awaited Robin. Beast Boy just grinned, thinking the same thing, and soon all four of them were laughing and making various guesses as to how bad Robin had it.

"Maybe Lily took him into a lingerie shop," Rose said. Raven's eyes widened in terror.

"Better DAMN well not have," She muttered. Speaking of that particular group…

"Isn't that them?" Mary asked, pointing to the arcade. Sure enough, the Boy Wonder stood watching Sam play a crane game. Suddenly, Sam whipped around, and Raven distinctly heard "Seriously! Screw off and let me win this thing in peace!" Instant face-palm for Raven.

"The arcade! Sweet!" Beast Boy cried. The others had to hurry to keep up with the changeling as he sped off to the various games. Once there, Beast Boy took one look at the game Sam was playing and sighed.

"No, no, you're doing it all wrong! Here, lemme show ya," He told Sam. Sam stepped aside and allowed Beast Boy to pump (yet) another of Robin's quarters into the machine. "Watch carefully, girl. Think outside the box," He said slyly. He dropped the claw down, and missed the watch. Well, at least, it looked like he did, until…

SMACK!

Beast Boy gave the machine a solid whack with his hip, causing the watch to tumble onto one of the claws as it rose up. Taking his prize from the slot, he held it out to Sam, who took it with a satisfied smile.

"Thanks. But I will be back. And I WILL win something out of the damn thing myself," She promised, causing everyone a simple roll of the eyeballs. Frowning, she sighed and led the others out of the arcade.

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"Don't ask me. I know diddly about fashion," Cyborg admitted, scratching his forehead in response to Sophia's interest in his opinion of the clothes she had chosen. Giving her trademark gentle chuckle, she nodded and re-entered the changing room to dress back into her cloak. Once done, they took her selections to the front of the Sears store and paid for them with the Titans' account card.

"Cyborg, you really need to stop being so self-aware," Sophia told him, seeing him fidgeting for the fifth time in an hour. Seeing the look on his face, that of "huh", she sighed. "What I meant is that you don't have to be so nervous," She elaborated.

"Who, me? I'm not being me. Just good ol' nervous. Er…wait, I mean-" Sophia raised an eyebrow in amusement. Cyborg was flustered, badly. "Okay, fine. It's not everyday that one of your friends splits into eight of themselves," He told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Particularly when you think something could happen between one of the copies, eh?" She inquired with a small smile. This caused a very interesting contrast of blue and red to color Cyborg's face.

"I-wha- I mean-" He spluttered, trying in vain to make intelligible speech. Finally, after a moment to collect himself, he managed as such. "What're you talkin' about?" He asked, trying to act and sound nonchalant. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Cyborg, just because your first post-accident relationship ended so quickly doesn't mean that no one else will be with you," She told him. Seeing him simply look away, she sighed. "Let's just take things one step at a time, hm? We've 'clicked' thus far. Relax," She said with a laugh. Cyborg gave a small smile and nodded, walking out of the store with a new confidence.

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"Robin, you alright?" Cyborg asked once they had all met back up at the car. The Boy Wonder in question had a look of "Why me?" firmly set upon his face. Rubbing his forehead, he turned to look at his teammate.

"I just spent almost two hours in the mall with a stubborn, near-psychotic Raven. Need I say more?" He said. Seeing the look on Cyborg's shoulder, he frowned. "What?" He asked snippily.

Cyborg chuckled. "Well, I think 'Oh, shit." or 'I'm sorry,' would be good choices," He suggested, pointing behind Robin. Color draining from the leader's face, he turned around to face Sam, dressed now in a short sleeved dark-green T-Shirt, blue jean shorts and one hell of a glare.

"Me and you, training room, right when we get back," She said shortly before walking away and teleporting herself back to the Tower along with the rest of the Ravens. Or at least, that was her intent. Instead, she was knocked to the ground by a Blood demon, one of a small army that materialized suddenly from a dark portal in the sky.

"Oh, bad move. I'm out not even a day and you guys attack?" Sam growled as she round-housed the demon off of her.

"Give up the jewel and no one has to get hurt," A familiar, smooth voice informed them. Whipping around, Robin saw his old nemesis staring him in the eye confidently.

"So Beast Boy was right! I trusted you, Slade," Robin snarled, furious.

"You also trusted Terra. She betrayed you as well, whether she fixed things later or not," Slade shot back. Robin had no answer for that, seeing as it was completely true.

"You're not getting that jewel," Beast Boy said, rising up to Robin's left side. Starfire flew up overhead, and Cyborg's arm cannon was charging.

"How unfortunate. The rest of your team is already back home. Five of you against my entire army? This will be amusing. Attack!" He commanded, turning to a demon that could only have been the commander. And so, the army charged.

"Titans, Go!" Robin shouted, charging forward as well.


	3. Witch Way Did He Go?

-1Me: Titans' DUEL! Has been updated!

Raven: If you write me losing that duel, sleep with both eyes open.

Me: ;/ Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Making you lose the duel would create possibilities for a subplot of winning you back.

Raven: (hands glow black)

Me: /

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Robin leapt forward at Slade, staff in hand. Slade blocked his downward strike, pulled out his own staff, and squared off with the Boy Wonder. "Just like old time, eh?" Slade said with a chuckle. Ducking a concussive disk, he continued to circle his opponent. "Don't tell me you've slacked on your hand-to-hand," He said. Robin snarled and swung his staff, met halfway by Slade's own weapon.

Robin frowned. Something seemed familiar about this… _Earlier this morning! Raven and I were like this. And if I recall…_ Robin slacked his grip on the staff and performed the same leg sweep that he used on Raven. One problem: Where Raven was more comfortable with long-range combat, Slade was an expert at close quarters. As such, he predicted Robin and jumped the maneuver, landing down on his opponent with an axe kick. With a grunt of pain, Robin sprawled to the ground.

Not ten feet away, Beast Boy was in gorilla morph, tearing apart demons left and right. At his back was Sam, a living weapon. Feet lashed out, fists swung in wild patterns that only Sam would only be able to launch effectively. Backflips led into somersaults, which led further into aerial moves, and with an unnatural liquid grace Same tore apart any and all comers.

Cyborg was blasting every enemy in sight, causing mild property damage in the process. Slowly, though, he was being backed into a corner.

But Robin was having the worst time of it. He was continually being kicked, punched, shoved and dropped to the ground by any and all of Slade's moves. He was beginning to look similar to what he did when Slade's hallucinogenic powder had affected him. "This is becoming too easy, Robin. You have obviously slacked off your training. It doesn't help that I have a number of the Seven Gems on my side, but…" Slade trailed off with another kick to Robin's side as he lay on the ground.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" A voice yelled suddenly. And with that, a chorus of voices cried out "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Slade was lifted into the air and slammed viciously into the ground, denting his mask seemingly into the villain's face. Robin looked up weakly to see Raven, Roth, Lily, Rose, Mary, Sophia, Carrie and Angella standing, hand in hand, with black fire surrounding them. Picking himself up, Slade looked wildly between the various Ravens, dressed now in casual clothing of their various colors.

"What?! How the-why-Retreat and regroup!" He ordered. Instantly, the demons vanished, and Slade simply activated the power of his gems and teleported away.

"Robin!" Sam cried, rushing to his side. Behind her, Starfire and Terra emerged from Raven's portal as well. Sam looked up at them. "Starfire, go with Raven. You too, Cyborg. Get Robin on the med room machines and patch him up best you can," She told them. Not even pausing to wonder why San was automatically the one giving orders, they nodded as Starfire gingerly picked Robin up and stepped back through the portal.

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"What purpose could they possibly have to attack us?" Sam muttered to herself as she paced up and down the medical room inside Titan's Tower.

"Sam, you're wearing a rut in the floor. Sit," Sophia told her, slightly annoyed. She, too, wondered as to the meaning of such a sudden assault, but unlike Sam she was silently and calmly contemplating her thoughts.

"Sophie, you can't tell me that you don't want to go out and pound those damned demons into the ground right now too! And we can't do that without knowing what the hell they want!" Sam shot back, punching her fist into her palm.

"Sam, we aren't going to understand Slade's intentions by simply launching a head-on assault. That will only result in, well, this," Lilith said, gesturing to Robin, who was hooked up to various machines on the bed he was lying in.

"Any developments?" Raven asked as she entered the room, Beast Boy in tow. Sophia gave a small laugh.

"None besides Sam's growing urge to go after Slade head-on," She told Raven, rolling her eyes. Raven rubbed her forehead.

"Okay, listen up. Our situation right now is not good. Starfire is practically in tears and Cyborg says that Robin's condition has declined in the past hour.

Terra and Drake are on a warpath, apparently because they don't want to wait for Robin to heal before we go after Slade," Raven summarized.

"Damn," Brave said, expressing her feelings thoroughly. Lilith and Roth closed their eyes. Angella shook with fury. Rose was looking down at the ground. Marylyn was crying. Sophia was trying her best to maintain her composure, but a hint of anger showed despite her efforts. Carrie and Sam simply rubbed their temples, staring off into space.

Unexpectedly, Angella slammed her fist into the wall, leaving a somewhat large hole. Everyone turned to look, startled. Not speaking, she simply stormed out of the room, seething. Everyone looked at each other. Finally, Beast Boy spoke up. "I'll talk to her," He volunteered.

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"Angella!" Beast Boy called after her. She spun, searching for the source. Seeing Beast Boy, she closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead.

"Angella, Robin _will _recover. In the meantime, we have to stay calm and focused. I know you're angry at Slade. We all are. And I know that you were R-" Angella silenced him with a look.

"'Was' being the operative word, Garfield. I'm not an emotion anymore. I have my own emotions. Slade betrayed us. Just like Terra. Given, Terra turned out alright in the end, but Slade just potentially killed Robin. If Robin dies… If any one of us dies at the hands of these demons, I swear to God and Azar both that I will personally rip him apart, piece by piece." Angella finished with a snarl.

"I understand. But right now, we have to be strong. For Robin. And for Starfire. She's very distraught right now," Beast Boy said, laying a hand on her shoulder. Angella closed her eyes again, and when she re-opened them, the raged had softened in her eyes.

"I guess… Thanks, Gar," She replied. And with that, the alarm went off.

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"What is it?" Raven asked Cyborg sharply as she skidded into the common room, where the alarm flashed. Cyborg grimaced.

"Plasmus. He's crashing the east quadrant of rural Jump City. I don't want to leave Robin here, but…" Raven nodded.

"Starfire, Marylyn, Sam, stay here with Robin. The rest of us will deal with Plasmus," Raven ordered. Everyone nodded, and the team headed out into the night.

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"Plasmus, you chose the wrong day to fu-o….kay…. Not good," Beast Boy commented. Plasmus hulked over them, roaring as he slopped sludge every which way. He was at least twice the size he usually was when they faced him previously. Suddenly, he noticed the Titan. Turning with another roar, he shot a large pool of sludge at them. Barely dodging the toxic crud, they formed a circle and closed in.

Raven uprooted a tree and used it as a bat, swinging and connecting with Plasmus. Well, she would have, anyway. Would have, had he not been suddenly swarmed by demons. Raven backed off as the demons quickly overtook the sludge monster. Quickly, the Titans regrouped as Slade appeared in front of the now-defeated monster. Quickly, Raven realized her mistake.

"A false alarm. Clever," She sneered. Slade chuckled, infuriating the Titans.

"Yes, it rather was a bit of a pickle. If you hadn't have come, Plasmus would have taken innocent lives. But now, I have other lives to take. Demons, attack!" He ordered. And with that, the Titans were swarmed by demons.

"Let's do this!" Angella roared, unleashing the fury that she had bottled in at the Tower. Demons flew, as did _pieces _of demons.

The others were doing quite well, and surprisingly quickly the demons were gone. The Titans looked amongst each other, smiling. Slade's amused laughter wiped the confidence from their faces, though. Turning back to face him, they faced a new army, consisting of Blood members. The color drained from the Titans faces, and they were forced to separate as a storm of spells and hexes were sent flying their way.

"Come and get some!" Beast Boy roared, transforming into the Beast. Angella came up to his back, and together they entered the fray.

Roth and Lilith were holding equal, not being able to truly eliminate their foes but not being eliminated either. "Roth, we're going to wear out. We need a new plan!" Lilith told her sister desperately.

"You got any ideas?" Roth responded. As if answering her question, a large slab of stone orbited the two girls, knocking their attackers away.

"A few," Terra said with a smile as she landed. Roth smiled, and together the three girls went airborne by their own powers.

Over time, though, the battle began to turn sour for the Titans. Especially once Slade entered, targeting Raven with every bit of power he could. Raven flew off of a wall, unharmed due to her powers but unceremoniously hitting the ground. Before she could react, she felt a steel boot in her ribs, arching her back upward.

Slade smirked and rose his foot to slam onto Raven's neck, and the empath closed her eyes, waiting for death. A grunt of surprise and pain caused her to open them again, just in time to catch a flash of pink.

"Pretty jewelry. Too bad I know what they're for," She heard a familiar voice say. Another flash of pink, and Slade flew into a tree. Seeing a hand extended to her, Raven took it and pulled herself to her feet.

"You alright?" Jinx asked. Raven gave a short nod, panting. Then she noticed two things. One: Slade was missing all but one gem. Two: Jinx was holding said gems. Eyes widening, Slade used the remaining gem to warp, leaving the army of Blood members behind to be slaughtered.

Wiping blood from her hands, Angella stepped carefully over the dead bodies of those she had annihilated, a smile of satisfaction on her face. The others were favoring various injuries, but were otherwise alright. Except one.

"Rose!" Raven cried, rushing to her side. She had been hit with some kind of piercing spell. Whatever it was, it had created a large hole in her stomach. Raven raised her hands to heal her, but Jinx grabbed her.

"Use these. We'll keep his little crack army off of you," Jinx suggested, holding out the two gems. Raven looked at them warily, remembering what had happened at the hotel. Finally, she took them, setting one into each glove of her uniform. Her hands glowing, he placed them on the injury. Instantly, the wound closed, and Rose woke with a start.

"What…happened?" She asked, sitting up. Raven smiled as she removed the gems.

"The cavalry arrived. You were injured, badly. I healed you. And," She looked over her shoulder to see Jinx and Angella dusting their hands off, "it looks like we're done here," She finished. Rose got to her feet, wobbled for a second, and finally got her bearings.

"You alright? Slade was giving you some serious beat down," Jinx asked Raven. The empath nodded. Beast Boy sidled up, demorphing and cursing himself.

"Sorry…I got tied up by those damn demons. I should've been the- Jinx? And…whoa! Aren't those the gem thingies?" Beast Boy asked, eyes wide. Raven nodded. Then she turned to look at Jinx.

"How do you know what these are? It's an Azarathian legend. How would you know something like that?" She asked, not trying to sound accusing. Jinx laughed.

"I'm a spell caster. I may not be from Azarath, but the Seven Gems are one of the most popular magical myths ever. It originated from Azarath, but it spread like wildfire. If I'm not mistaken, these represent Greed and Hatred. And you already possess… Violence?" Jinx asked after looking at the three enchanted objects studiously.

Raven's mouth hung open. "That text is Azarathian! How…?"

Jinx looked up, surprised.

"Magical connection. Azarathian is definitely an odd language, but as long as I have some sort of link with an Azarathian, I can read it," She explained.

Beast Boy looked at Raven. "How does she know this and you don't?" He asked. Raven looked annoyed.

"Because I didn't exactly spend much time at home. Jinx has probably spent more time studying Azarath and other various magical topics than I've spent telling you to shut up," Raven said, smirking at the last part. Beast Boy frowned, then rolled his eyes.

"We have three of the gems, now. I think the other Titans might like to know that," Jinx suggested. Raven nodded.

"You coming with?" She asked the pink-haired sorceress. She shrugged.

"Why not?" She said

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"So either Slade possesses Narcissism, Begrudging, Selfishness and Murderous, or he has at least one of those and the other three are unaccounted for?" Robin summed up after hearing out Raven's story.

"Right. Even so, these things are extremely powerful on their own. Especially if he happens to have Murderous," She said grimly. Cyborg arched an eyebrow.

"Does it matter which one he has?" He asked. Raven nodded.

"Not all the gems are as strong as the others. Murderous is the most powerful, followed respectfully by Hatred, Greed, Violence, Begrudging, Selfishness and finally Narcissism. But when all seven of them work together…" She trailed off.

"So we have two of the most powerful ones, then?" Beast Boy said, excited.

"Don't get too energetic. We can't use them. I shouldn't have even used them to heal Rose, but that was an emergency. The longer you associate yourself with these literally damned things, the more influence they begin to have on you. If Nevermore still existed, when I used the power of those gems, Anger would have gone nuts." She explained.

"Then we need to destroy them," Robin decided. Raven shook her head.

"The reason those gems existed is to hold in the evil power. For one thing, many who have been foolish enough to turn to them for power have tried and failed to break them. For another, that is Slade's plan. If all seven Gems are together, they _will _destroy themselves, releasing that evil energy to the one who commands the Gems," Raven told him. He nodded, understanding.

"So we just protect them?" He proposed. She nodded. "And there's no chance of them influencing us simply by being in the Tower?" He asked. She nodded again. "Okay then. Cyborg, I want those gems locked away in as many different ways as is possible inside the Tower," He ordered. Cyborg nodded.

Raven left the room, coming back a moment later with a dark blue chest. Using her powers, she lifted the stones into it, shutting the lid. Handing the box to Cyborg, she turned to the others as he left.

"We have to finish what Garfield started," She told them. Suddenly, Drake shot his hand up. "Yes?" She inquired.

"I have a question. Do you always cause this much trouble?" He asked. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, but I can make an exception for you if you'd like," She told him. He laughed.

"Yeesh, fine. It was a joke," He told her. She rolled her eyes, motioned to her boyfriend, and the two of them left the room.

_I've got to find out more about these gems… _Robin thought as he watched them. He left for his room, deliberating. Finally, he made his decision. Late that night, he left his room and made his way to the security room the Gems had been placed in.

"Identifying…Retina scan: Complete. Genetic comparison: Complete. Welcome, Richard Grayson," The computer said.


	4. Seeing the Light

-1Beast Boy: (Comes in singing the "Cops" theme and holding a picture of Robin)

Robin: Oh, shut up.

Raven: He does have a a point. Mr. Righteous Leader goes and messes with stuff he knows he shouldn't be messing with. Ooooh…

Me: Heh.

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"Hmm…Seven Gems, huh? Sounds like a video game," Robin mused to himself as he examined one of the black stones. Picking it up, he looked at it, pondering. "I wonder… No, I shouldn't be doing this," He decided. He turned to leave the room, but a nagging feeling in his mind turned him back around. "Surely, just one little test won't hurt…" He murmured. Picking the stone back up, he switched his "R" badge out for the Gem of Violence.

Instantly, he felt two changes. First, he felt…awake, almost. As if he had suddenly woken from a fog. Second, he felt aggressive, with a sudden burning passion to begin searching for Slade right now. _Let's see… _ Robin made his way to the training room, making sure to soundproof the room. Then he turned the level to ten and began.

His moves had vastly increased, in both speed and power. With each Sladebot he destroyed, he felt even more aggressive, itching to destroy. Within minutes, he had completed all the way to level 15, something no Titan had done.

"Wow…Talk about power. We could use these to obliterate Slade! Man! Damn, these things make you wired, though," He mused aloud.

"And just what the HELL do you think you're doing?" A voice growled angrily. Robin spun, ready to fight, to see a pissed-off Raven glaring daggers at him.

"Did I not tell you to leave those ALONE?!" She yelled. Robin recoiled.

"Don't yell at me! We can use these, Raven! I mean, come on! I just whooped level 15 with them!"

"They only power you up through evil magic!" Raven shot back, seething. _Is he a complete MORON?! Does he not realize what he's doing? _ She wondered.

"I told you, don't yell at me!" Robin replied hotly.

Raven took a breath to calm herself. "Fine. Just return that gem to the security room," She instructed. Robin stayed put. "Well? Coming?" She asked. He shook his head.

"I want to test this out some more," He told her. Her mouth hung open. Finally, she sighed.

"Don't make me take that gem," She warned. Robin's eyes widened. Then they narrowed.

"If you want to interrupt my training to bring down Slade, you're going to have to come get it," The Boy Wonder snarled. Raven smiled.

_Oh, funny. Wonder how many sodas he had tonight? Either way, _She thought, smiling at what she believed Robin kidding with her. She mock-flew at him, aiming for the jewel. The smile disappeared when she connected with the business end of a Birdarang.

"Did you just-?"She asked, shocked.

"Did you not hear me?" The leader of the Titans said. Raven's eyes widened.

_He's serious! The gem…it's getting to him! Damn! _Raven swore as she prepared to fight.

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Beast Boy woke up with a jolt, stirred by a sudden explosion of power in the Tower. Running out of his room, he saw Starfire gliding down the hall at him.

"Starfire, what's going on?" The changeling questioned worriedly. The princess shook her head.

"I believe we would both know if you could inform me," She told him. Despite his fear, he couldn't help but smile at her elongated version of another English phrase. Nodding to his friend, the pair headed for the stairs.

Before they could go down, however, they were met by Jinx and the various Raven sisters.

"Raven's in trouble," Sophia said simply. Beast Boy nodded, and all of them took the stairs down to the first floor.

Cyborg joined them there, Terra and Drake close behind. "Did you hear that?" Drake asked. Beast Boy nodded. "Okay, good. I'm not going nuts then. Where're the birds at?" The former thief wondered.

"I dunno, but I doubt their absence is coincidental. Cyborg, run a check on the Tower, see if you can find the source. Star, BB, check this floor. Drake and I will check the second floor," Terra directed. No one questioned; they simply nodded and went off in their various directions.

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"Robin, listen to me! That gem is poisoning you! You have to take it off!" Raven yelled as she threw bits of defeated Sladebots at him.

"No! Stop, Raven! You're betraying this entire team! If you'll let me continue, we can find a way to beat Slade and those damn demons! STOP!" Robin shouted back, finally fighting his way through the storm of machine parts. Raven flew against a wall as Robin connected with his staff.

_He's…winning…The gem is resisting my powers…_ She realized as she gasped for air. Getting back up, she shielded herself from another barrage of attacks. Remembering their training from the other day, Raven tried the same trick of stealing from Robin's belt. She managed a staff, but that was all. _Better than nothing, _She thought as she blocked his next blow with the weapon.

Robin leapt back as he realized that she, too, now had a weapon. "Robin, listen to me. That gem is evil. You and I both know that. They…," She paused, getting sudden inspiration. "They could turn you into Slade." She finished.

The effect was instantaneous. Robin dropped the staff, absorbing her words. Finally, he ripped the gem from his person, dropping to all fours.

"I…Oh, God. I'm sorry. Those things… powerful…" Robin managed out before lapsing into unconsciousness. Raven shook her head, picking the stone up via her powers. Unlocking the doors, she headed for the exit, opening the sliding door to reveal her boyfriend, worried sick.

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"What the _hell _happened?" Beast Boy cried, seeing the destruction as he wrenched open the training room door. A ceiling panel hung by a single piece of rebar. Birdarangs were buried in several places on the walls. Raven's cloak also bore evidence of the flying weapons, several rips having been torn into it.

Raven shook her head, half angered, half worried for Robin. "He decided to mess with the Gem of Violence and paid the price. Once you start using the Gems…They have a way of getting to you. Luring you into the darkness. I mean, they turned Lucifer into Satan," She explained, gesturing to the object, covered in her aura and floating in the air. Cyborg's jaw dropped.

"So Robin was possessed?" He asked. Raven nodded. "He attacked you?" He pressed. Again, she nodded.

Beast Boy growled, a deep, primal, terrifying sound. Suddenly and abruptly, he turned on his heel and power-walked out of the room. Everyone's eyebrows rose, Raven finally rubbing her forehead and going after the changeling. "Get Robin back to his office," She told them dryly.

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Raven entered the common room to find her significant other transformed into the Beast, sitting calmly on the couch with the TV on, instantly reminding Raven of the whole Grandma Wolf thing from Little Red Riding Hood. "Garfield?" She said, catching his attention.

"Er, hey," He said after demorphing. Raven cocked an eye. "Transforming into that thing lets me control rage. Quite helpful, really," He told her.

"Uh…why did you leave like that?" She wondered.

"If I hadn't, Robin would be in several pieces right now," He informed her shortly, turning back to the TV. Raven's eyes widened.

"Oh. O…kay. He made a mistake, but…" Raven trailed off.

"He did EXACTLY what he knew he shouldn't have, and attacked you because of it!" Beast Boy suddenly shot up as he spat the reply out like a jalapeno pepper. Raven opened her mouth, but he talked over her. "Don't tell me you aren't pissed at him, Rachel!" He fumed.

Raven's jaw dropped at his use of her first name. He _never _called her "Rachel." "Rae-Rae," "Raven," "Ravie," and "Rae," yes, but never had he used her first formal name.

"I-I am, but you have to calm down," Raven stuttered, caught off guard.

A few moments passed. Beast Boy took several deep breaths. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright, I'm calm. I'm going back to bed. 'Night, Rae," He told her, kissing her on the cheek as he exited the room. She nodded, following him out and leaving him for her own room.

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"I guess I should check on him before I go back…" Beast Boy muttered. Changing course, he made his way to the med bay. Entering, he went to Robin's bedside, where he found a sleeping Starfire. He turned to walk away when he felt a strange…feeling. He couldn't place it, but it was there, and it seemed to be coming from the very room that the Gems were secured in.

"…Why?" Beast Boy muttered. Exiting the room, he fought with himself. _I'd be doing the same thing Robin did, _He argued. _Yeah, but if something's wrong in there, it could hurt us, _he thought. He sighed. "I won't pick the damn things up, that's all," He decided.

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"Handprint accepted. Welcome, Garfield," The computer greeted him. He walked in, looking around. Everything seemed normal. The Gems were in their resting places. All was calm. But the feeling…it was still there.

Then it happened. Beast Boy's sensitive ears picked up a sound. Footsteps, no less. And oddly enough, they sounded like metal on metal. That ruled out Raven and Starfire. Robin was out by default. "Why the hell is Cyborg coming here?" He wondered.

An explosion changed Beast Boy's mind about the identity of said stepper. Sparks flew as a figure obliterated the door, unwittingly presenting himself to Beast Boy, though not for long.

Slade looked to see his opposition and laughed. "You? With your friends, you are strong, but alone, in such a small space? If you leave now, I will spare your life," He offered. Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. Then, he felt it, stronger now. It seemed as though one of the gems was calling to him. The Gem of Hatred, to be precise. He furrowed his brows and ignored it.

"I think I'll stick around," He told the villain. Morphing into a bear, he rose up on his hind legs with a roar. Slade smirked, drawing his staff and landing a solid strike to his opposition's midsection. Beast Boy hit the wall hard, demorphing.

The call was becoming stronger, harder for Beast Boy to ignore, to act upon. A blast from one of Slade's remaining Gems finally set his mind. Leaping forward, he got his hands of the Gem of Hatred. Instantly, it began shining, a light so brilliant that Slade was temporarily blinded by it.

When the light faded, Beast Boy looked in shock at the stone in his hand. It had gone from black to a blazing, beautiful blue. He looked at Slade, whose eyes had gone wide. And without thought, without words, Beast Boy somehow _knew _what to do.

Holding the stone in his palm, he faced Slade and…_released_, for a lack of a better word, energy from his body through the object. A beam of the same color as its origin gave Slade a one way ticket into and _through _the wall, all in one motion. He didn't even bother to give chase; he knew that Slade had disappeared again, frightened by the sudden turn of events.

"What…gives?" Beast Boy wondered, turning the now blue stone over in his hand. As he looked, he realized that the text that once read "Hatred" had changed. Furrowing his brows, he looked at the other gems. Curious, he picked the Gem of Violence up. Instantly, it fired a black beam at his face, blocked only by a blue shield from the new stone.

"Oooooookay…" He said.

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"What is this, the fourth of July?" Raven wondered snappishly to herself as she rushed towards the source of the noise. Her eyes flashed as she saw Beast Boy in the security room, holding an object.

"Garfield Mark Logan, you had better not be holding what I think you are holding," She warned him, her tone dangerous. He turned, showing her the blue stone. She blinked, stepping forward to take it from him.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked.

"I…I had this feeling. Like something was wrong. And you know me. I'm usually right when I have that sort of feeling. So I came down here, where it seemed to be coming from. When I got in, the Hatred gem was like, calling me, I swear. I ignored it, but I heard footsteps. Turned out to be Slade," He told her.

"And?" Raven pressed.

"We fought. I was losing, and the Gem just kept drawing me in. Finally, Slade used his gem against me, and I…grabbed it. The Gem of Hatred. But," He said quickly, seeing rage flare in her eyes, "it…changed. There was this flashy light show, and when it faded it had become what you're holding right now," He finished. Then, as an afterthought, "It says something different too. I can't read it, but it doesn't say "Hatred" anymore."

Raven's eyebrows shot up. Turning over the stone, she scrutinized the text. Then, slowly, she looked from the stone, to Beast Boy, back to the stone, and finally fixated her eyes on Beast Boy.

"This says…Loyalty. You laid hands on the Gem of Hatred, and it transformed…into the Gem of Loyalty," She said slowly. She blinked, mouth open. "It makes no sense. None of the legends mentioned the Gems being able to change," She told him. Then she cocked her head.

Beast Boy was laughing. "What in Azar's name is so funny?" She wondered, becoming annoyed.

"Of course! And that's why Slade's being able to use them without repercussion! The Gems… Robin was right! We CAN use them, just not the way he's thinking!" He continued.

"Okay, what in the name of all that is holy are you talking about," Raven asked, now wholeheartedly confused and annoyed.

"Okay, think about this. Robin grabbed the Gem of Violence, right? And that made his skills increase, at the cost of his sense of righteousness. Alright, now think about what just happened. I grabbed the Gem of Hatred, and it transformed into an entirely different Gem, and gave me an increase in power WITHOUT screwing with me," He said with a grin. Seeing Raven's cocked eyebrow, he face palmed.

"Okay, I'll make it simple. Describe Robin," He told her.

"Uh, okay. Occasionally annoying, really stand-up, well, most of the time, short, obsessive-" Beast Boy sighed.

"Alright, fine. I'll spell it out for you. He may be a good guy, but he has a tendency to get violent easily in certain conditions. Alright, the Gem took that little-bitty part of that in him and magnified it, overtook him with it," He explained patiently. He slapped his forehead.

"Jesus, are you dense? When I grabbed the Gem of Hatred, it didn't FIND anything in there! I'm the happy-go-lucky guy! But my personality, my traits, they overwhelmed the Gem, Raven," He told her. She gasped.

"You mean…?" She whispered.

"I turned it, Raven. That's why Slade's hoarding these things. I'll bet you anything that if Starfire grabbed onto the Gem of Violence, it'd change. Robin'd probably die if he grabbed the Narcissism one," He added with a grin. Raven rolled her eyes.


	5. Spirit of the Gem

-1Robin: That was a cheap shot!

Beast Boy: It's true.

Robin: That's not the point!

Beast Boy: Yes it is.

Me: Yeah, it actually is.

Robin: Don't you start on me too.

Me: Pfft. I'm the author. You don't tell me what to do.

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It was 4 AM, and Beast Boy was holding tightly to the blue gem that lie in his hand. "Loyalty…" He whispered, a smile on his face. It made him happy, knowing that it was that particular trait that was so overwhelming inside of him, that trait that overpowered Hatred itself.

"And it protected me…I wonder if I can use it?" He said aloud. Placing the Gem in his palm like last time, he concentrated on focusing his energy into the gem in the form of a shield. And sure enough, a glow shone from the stone, shaping into a solid barrier of light.

Next he tried forming a weapon of it. Although the only thing he could produce was an perfect copy of the sword that he had used to kill Trigon with, it was enough. He also found himself able to recreate the energy beam he shot Slade with.

What he DIDN'T expect was for the gem to work even when he didn't hold it. He discovered that as long as the Gem of Loyalty was in close proximity, its powers were in his control. Learning this, he decided that he would create a bracelet of some sort to set the Gem in.

Smiling, he set the Gem on his desk and went to bed, falling asleep immediately.

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"It changed?" Robin repeated for the sixth time. Despite Starfire's numerous physical and verbal attempts to keep Robin in the medical ward, the Boy Wonder refused to remain in bed. He was now sitting on the couch in the common room with everyone else, listening to Raven and Beast Boy's story.

"To be honest, I don't find it odd at all," Sophia stated simply. All eyes turned to her. "Evil is only so strong. Good will always prevail, given that the bearer is strong enough. I wouldn't be surprised if, say, Cyborg could overcome the Gem of Greed, setting aside his longing for being fully _homo sapien _in order to help better the lives of others," She told the group.

"Should we test this theory, though?" Sam wondered. Sophia shook her head.

"I believe that we should only take such actions when necessary. What I would be curious about is just how far the power of the Gem of Loyalty extends. You say you have been able to produce simple weapons and shields?" She asked the changeling.

"A barrier and a mirror image of the sword I used against Trigon is all," He confirmed. Sophia nodded.

"Hey, that's still pretty badass," Sam interjected. Everyone else sighed. Then Marylyn raised her hand slightly.

"Erm… If these Gems can transform… Aren't they connected?" She asked quietly. Beast Boy thought momentarily on that, as did Raven. The others shrugged.

"Yes, quite so actually," Raven said after several minutes. "But what, exactly, are you trying to say, Mary?" She asked, cocking her head at the girl that used to roam inside of her very head.

"Well, if one Gem's power turned, it must have had an effect on the others, right? Beast Boy says that his Gem protected him from another. That means it was more powerful than the other Gem. Meaning-"

"That the other Gem, the evil one, had been reduced in power!" Beast Boy exclaimed, finishing her sentence. Raven nodded.

"In other words, the more of the Gems we turn, the less power Slade has with the ones he possesses," She summarized. Then she frowned. "It also means that Slade's going to be moving faster now. If he knows about the connection, he knows that every second that goes by is a second that his power could be draining," She added.

"Yeah…He's got what, three? I mean, we have Violence, Hatred/Loyalty, Narcissism and Selfishness. That means Slade has Murderous, Greed and Begrudging. Not good. Murderous is the most powerful of them, with the other two close behind, right?" Drake spoke up. Raven nodded.

Robin turned to look at Raven. "What can the Gems do? Are they just power sources, or what?" He asked.

"They can be used for dark magic. Extremely powerful dark magic. Dark magic spans a wide variety of effects. If he knows the full power of what he holds… There's no telling what he can do," She finished.

"Then we have to pound him before he has the chance!" Sam growled fiercely.

"Even if we are able to find him, Sam, I very much doubt one Light Gem will stand against three Evil Gems, particularly the three he possesses," Sophia countered calmly.

"But what if we can steal them from Slade?" Rose interjected.

"Do you honestly think that we could even touch him if he knew the full extent of Murderous?" Angella asked her, aghast.

"We gave him hell last time we fought him!" Sam replied.

"ENOUGH!" Raven finally yelled, tired of hearing the argument. "We know that we can't touch the bastard while he has those Gems. What we need to do isn't worrying about what Slade can do with his Gems. We need to figure out what we can do with ours," She told them.

"Alright, sounds logical. But, uh, the only Gem we can use is Beast Boy's," Robin reminded her.

Angella sighed. "We obviously need to change the others, Robin. If possible, that is," She added. Beast Boy bit his lip thoughtfully.

"Alright…Cyborg," He pointed finally. Cyborg raised an eyebrow, so Beast Boy continued.

"Try the Selfishness one," The changeling told his best friend.

"You want me to go screwin' around with those? No way. Ain't gonna happen," Cyborg replied; shaking his head. Beast Boy sighed.

"Fine. Star, think you could see what Violence does to you?" Beast Boy turned to the princess.

"I…If I go the same way Robin did, I could destroy this Tower, friend. I apologize, but no," Starfire told him.

"Alright, then, I guess we just let Slade dominate us," Beast Boy threw up his hands, annoyed.

"Beast Boy, if we become corrupted, Slade wins anyway. He could possibly even recruit us under the Gem's influence. You took a big, though necessary risk, in taking Hatred into your hands. We can't afford that risk twice," Raven reasoned with him.

"So what do you propose we do? Take our one Gem against his three? That's just an ass-whooping waiting to happen!" Beast Boy retorted. Then he sighed again. "Meh. Doesn't look like there's much more to talk about here. I'm gonna head out for a bit," He said. With that, he left the room.

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"None of them willing to take a chance… Seriously, what happened to the heroes that put it all on the line for their people?" Beast Boy wondered, walking the streets of Jump City. Finally, he found the jewelry shop he had been searching for. He had chosen this particular one for it's custom jobs, creating all sorts of earrings, bracelets, etc. etc..

Three hours later, he wore the Gem of Loyalty in a silver wristband with "Loyalty" written around it in Azarathian. Checking it out, he nodded and smiled to himself. Even if he had to do it alone, he would do everything within his power to make sure Slade was taken to justice.

"'_**Bout time I got someone to wake me up," **_Beast Boy froze. The voice was spoken in the same way Trigon had spoken to him, but this voice was definitely _not _Trigon.

"O…kay…" He said aloud. Looking left and right for the source, he shrugged. Maybe he'd imagined it. Maybe…

"_**Hey, mind telling me who you are?" **_There it was again. Beast Boy's eyes widened. Quickly, he morphed a falcon and flew to a remote part of Jump City Park. "Okay, am I hearing voices or what?" He asked to the air.

"_**No,"**_ The voice came again, this time annoyed. **_"Well, if you're referring to me, that is. Anything else, and yes, probably. Now, you obviously overthrew that retard Ralmus. Wanna introduce yourself?"_** Beast Boy's eyes widened further.

"Uhm…I'm Beast Boy. Who's Ralmus? And for that matter, who the heck are _you_?" He replied.

"_**The name's Elerana. Ralmus is the Evil God that sealed himself in this Gem. And I'm the unfortunate lady that got stuck counterbalancing him. But now that you've gone and kicked him out…" **_The now-named Elerana informed him.

"There're other spirits in the Evil Gems?!" The changeling yelped. Now Elerana was laughing at him. He growled. "So what, you can talk to me telepathically as long as the Gem is near me?" He probed.

"_**Pretty much. Not to mention that everything in your head is in mine now too. Now that you've opened our connection, anyway. Quite an interesting person, really. Heroic, half-interdimensional, got a demon for a girlfriend, changing into animals… It's gonna be cool being your Gem Guardian," **_The spirit mused.

"Okay, you're confusing me. How did I 'open' our connection? And what the hell is a Gem Guardian? And she's half-demon," He added. That just brought about a new bout of frustrating laughter.

"_**Alright, here's how it works. Ever since you touched the Gem of Hatred and purified it into the Gem of Loyalty, I've been awakened. However, it was only until now, when you've taken the Gem and made it your own, that I was able to communicate with you. You opened the connect both ways by responding. **_

_**Furthermore, now that we have this connection, I am officially your Gem Guardian. That means that we are connected by this Gem in such an intricate way that we are almost one with each other. Neat, huh?" **_Beast Boy was sure Elerana would have been grinning if she had a mouth. And Elerana was definitely a she, Beast Boy decided. The voice sounded feminine, and only a girl could be this maddening.

"_So this works too?" _He thought, hoping that the connection could be kept silent rather than sounding like a lunatic as he and Raven had sounded when they had been Fused.

"_**Yeah, that'll work too. You need to get back home, though. The others will start worrying if you don't," **_His new partner responded. The changeling sighed, knowing she was right, and morphed once more into the falcon to fly back to the Tower.

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"Oh, there you are. Where'd you go?" Robin wondered as Beast Boy walked into the common room where the others were having pizza, the official dinner of the Teen Titans.

"Getting this made," He said, holding his wrist out. Robin nodded, got up, and took a look at it.

"Cool. A necklace is kind've girly, after all," He said with a grin. Inside, Beast Boy felt Elerana become annoyed. Suddenly, the gem flashed, and Beast Boy had changed. Not morphed, changed. He now had shoulder length hair, still blond, silver eyes, and a bust. He had also grown slightly taller, and his skin was a pale blue.

"Girly? Girly is that cape, Boy who Wonders," "Beast Boy" told him in an irked tone. The gem flashed again, and the changeling reverted to normal. Everyone stared, first at the gem, then at the boy himself.

"Uh… What was _that_?" Robin asked Beast Boy incredulously. Beast Boy was silent for a moment as he contacted Elerana.

"_Yeah, what was that?" _He asked, both surprised and alarmed.

"_**Sorry. Couldn't help myself. I'm an avid hater of idiots that think certain things are stupid because girls thought of them first. OH! You mean what I actually did? I told you we were connected, man. That was me. Literally. Not a full embodiment, but as well as your own features would allow," **_The spirit explained, causing Beast Boy terror.

"_You can take over my body?! Don't do that unless I tell you!" _He yelped. All he heard was amused laughter.

"Still waiting for an explanation," Robin said, tapping his foot.

"Well, you see…."


	6. Fade into White

-1Cyborg: Beast Boy's getting to be a real pimp. He's got girls on the outside and inside now!

Beast Boy: One more annoying than the other…

Elerana: Don't make me come out there.

Everyone: (face palm)

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"…and that's what just happened," Beast Boy finished, having just explained the Elerana ordeal.

Everyone stared at him. Starfire looked uncertain. Cyborg couldn't keep a straight face. Robin had an eyebrow cocked. Raven had a facial tic due to the fact that another girl was so closely connected to her boyfriend. Terra looked dumbfounded. The Azarathian sisters were searching for words. And Drake…

"Wait, wait a sec. You're saying that if someone purifies one of these, they get a babe with it? Where're they at?" He asked. Beast Boy felt Elerana urging him to let her out again, and sighed.

"Elerana wants me to relay some very nasty comments, but I think I'll go with saying she wants to kill you," He said, looking at Drake, who smirked. Beast Boy paused, as though listening to something.

"Elerana says that not all of the spirits in the Gems are female, concerning both the good and evil entities. She also told Drake to suck on that," He added. Another pause. "According to Elerana, we were right about the connection. The more Light Gems we have, the less power the Evil Gems possess," He continued.

"Okay, then, is there a safe way to turn them?" Angella asked.

"Not really," Beast Boy said for a minute. "We'll just have to, and I quote, 'Grab our stones and see if they light up,'" He said with a laugh. Robin sighed.

"Man, Beast Boy, that has to suck. Having a crazy tomboy in your head… Any way to get her out?" He asked.

"Excuse me," Beast Boy said calmly, walking out of the room. Various slams, crashes and other destructive noises were heard.

"Will you stop insulting her already?" The changeling said, exasperated as he walked back in. Robin sighed yet again.

"Looks like we have no other option. Let's see what the Gems think of us," He decided.

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"Alright, Elerana says to make sure we can make a fight six on one if whoever has the Gem gets nasty," Beast Boy instructed. Everyone nodded. "Alright… Starfire, Elerana wants you to take Violence," He said. The Tamaranian nodded, reaching out for the jewel.

Grasping it, she held it in the palm of her hand. "Er…is it supposed to be doing something?" She wondered.

"Elerana says to put it in your gauntlet, in place of one of those green thingies, to quote her," Beast Boy told her. Starfire nodded and did as she was told. It had barely been placed in before a flash lit the room.

"_**Thought so. I always have been a good judge of character," **_Elerana said silently to her new charge. Beast Boy nodded.

The gem was now a fiery red. Starfire took it back out, and handed it to Raven to translate.

"It says 'Protective,'" She said, smiling as she handed the stone back. Starfire returned it back to her gauntlet and stepped back.

"Cyborg, she want you to take Selfishness," Beast Boy told his best friend. Cyborg hesitated and looked to Sophia, who nodded and gave him her trademark gentle smile. Coming forward, he took Selfishness in his hand. Rewiring his arm, he extended a slot where a spare battery cell would go and placed the Gem inside of it. Lo and behold, another flash of light lit the room.

Raven looked momentarily at it. "Bravery," She announced after examining the now-green object. Laughing slightly, he retracted the slot and motioned for someone else.

"She wants…What?! Elerana, that'd kill him! …If you say so. Drake, she wants you to take Narcissism," He said slowly. Everyone's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Erm. You kid, right? I mean, look at me. Seriously, I'm about as self-centered as possible," He said with a laugh.

Again, Beast Boy was transformed so that Elerana was face-to-face with the former thief. "No. You hide behind a facade of sarcastic wit, but you know that deep inside you are just as much of a hero as anyone else in this room," She told him in a gentle voice that took Beast Boy by surprise.. The words hit home, and Drake took the stone in his hand.

"Where do I put it?" He wondered. Before He could say any more, the Gem had already flashed. "I didn't even set it anywhere, though," Drake said, examining the white gem he held.

"That is because the spirit in that one…well, see for yourself," She nodded to the Gem. Slowly, the Gem began to change, morph. It twisted, extended, turn, and finally fell into Drake's hand in the form of a ring. He gave it to Raven to read.

"Text is too small…never mind, I can read it now," She murmured. Then she gave a small laugh and a satisfied smile. "Righteousness," She stated. He put the ring onto his finger, looked momentarily, and shrugged.

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"What?!" Slade roared.

"It appears that the Gems are not all evil, Master," The Blood in front of him explained in the calmest tone possible. "There are others inside these Gems besides the Seven. The changeling, this 'Beast Boy,' awakened one such spirit, and his power combined with hers overcame the Hateful God, Ralmus," He told Slade solemnly.

"This is bad…If they control more of the Gem's power than I do, my plans will be ruined! And with those damned copies of Trigon's accursed daughter running around, I'm even more outnumbered than usual!" Slade growled as he paced, trying to think.

"I must act now," He decided finally. "She is the source of this. The girl…she will be able to control the Gems. You," He turned, addressing the Blood. "Bring Raven Roth to me. I don't care who you kill or what you destroy. Just bring her to me, alive," He ordered. The Blood nodded and sank into the ground.

"Yes…I can break her. And once I do, I will force her to hold the Seven Gems in her hands and bend them to my bidding…But why did my Gem not destroy that pathetic fool?" Slade wondered, holding up the Murderous Gem. "It is supposed to be the most powerful, yet…"

He shook his head and continued pacing.

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"I thought there were supposed to be some kind of guardians or something in these?" Drake said after wearing Righteousness for a couple minutes. Beast Boy frowned.

"Elerana says that the absence of spirits in the Gems worries her. If they aren't there, they were consumed by the god inside, meaning that those Gem Guardians are now gone. She says…huh? We have an ace up our sleeve?" He wondered as Elerana spoke to him.

"_**Yes, something Slade is ignorant to. Given, he will be going after Raven regardless of circumstances, but she is our secret weapon. Protect her at all costs. Not that I need to tell you that, but still. Slade believes, and rightly so, that if he can bend Raven to his will, she can bend the Gem's powers to his," **_She told him.

"_How is Raven our secret weapon? She's powerful, but the Gem of Violence threw her into a wall the first time she touched it! What makes her special in terms of the Gems?" _He asked Elerana urgently.

"_**Oh, come on. You aren't **_**that ****_dense, are you? You people…can't see anything beneath the surface. You think that little thing in Raven's head is there for decoration or something?" _**She responded sardonically.

Beast Boy thought on this. True, Raven _did _have the chakra on her forehead, but what significance did that have? _"Wait…" _Beast Boy thought. Then he opened his thought up to Elerana again.

"_Raven said there were seven of the Gems. I get the feeling that you're going to tell me that Raven's chakra is one of the Gems. But… how can it be? Explanation?" _He asked.

"_**Good detective work, Mr. Holmes,**_" She said wryly. **_"Yes, Raven's charka is indeed a Gem. The Gem of Murder, to be exact," _**The spirit added.

"_Murder?! Slade has that one, Elerana. There's no way that Raven could-"_

"_**If I had a body, I would be rolling my eyes, you know that? Back when the Gems were created, we knew that the Evil Gods varied in their powers. There was a power rank. Murderous, Violence and Hatred were the three we, the High Council, were truly concerned about. We created copies, fakes, of those three and imbued them with minimal power, just enough to keep the Evil Gods unaware that we had tampered with them.**_

_**We scattered the three true Gems in places where they would never be useable. One of them was deep in the dimension of Azarath. However, in his quest for complete domination, Trigon happened across the Gem, and sensed the power emanating from it. When he took it in his hand, the reverse of what happened to the Gem of Hatred happened. The Gem of Murder changed. It became the Gem of Bloodlust. **_

_**He used it in his plans to conquer your dimension, Earth. Namely, your girlfriend, the half-demon Raven Roth that was destined to end the world using the power of the Gem. But his plan backfired, thanks to you Titans. And, unbeknownst to any of you, you changed the Gem of Bloodlust, reversed the effect Trigon's evil had on it. It is now simply the Gem of Murder, it's power locked away deep inside Raven.**_

_**However, I am concerned now. Nevermore was where the power resided. Namely, Rage's realm. I don't know how long it will be before Murder's raw power begins to surface and affect her. You must find a way to stop it, Garfield. If you don't… She may well finish the job she started."**_

Beast Boy reeled backwards. It was too much to take in. Raven, the holder of a power so evil that Trigon himself saw fit to use it?

"Gar?" Raven's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up, still distracted by Elerana's tale.

"Are you…alright?" She asked, looking for some sign of something…off. He seemed distant, unfocused.

"No. Guys… Raven. Is there any way to get that gem on your forehead out?" Beast Boy asked. Her eyebrows shot up, as did everyone else's.

"Not without severe pain, complete loss of my powers, and a lot of blood. What the hell made you ask _that_?" She still had one eyebrow cocked.

"Elerana… she says the Gem that Slade as is fake. The real Gem, the one of Murder, he doesn't have it. We do," He said, pointing at Raven.

"Do I look like a piece of jewelry? You're babbling, Gar…field…Unless you're saying what I think you're saying…"

"In which case, you are in deep trouble now," Sophia finished her sentence. Raven closed her eyes and nodded.

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"Anything yet?" Robin asked. Cyborg shook his head. He had been monitoring Raven's telekinetic and telepathic frequencies for well over an hour, and all was steady. No sign of another power rising up, nor a sign of another power at all.

"Elerana said this thing was kept in Nevermore. Maybe it disappeared along with it," Cyborg suggested. Robin nodded.

"Pretty sound theory. Problem is, nothing is ever really a sound theory when we're dealing with Raven. I just wish we weren't having to deal with all of this. She was happy, y'know? We took down Trigon, and now this gets in the way of her free life. It's crap," Robin muttered. Cyborg made a noise of agreement, then turned back to the computers.

"Do you think it'd work?" The half-machine said suddenly after a few minutes. Robin cocked his head to the side.

"Do I think what would work?" He asked, lost.

"Me and Sophia. We've been hitting it off really well, and we seem perfect for each other. Only problem is that I feel like-"

"Like you'd be dating Raven, which in turn would have Raven cheating on Beast Boy," Robin finished. Cyborg nodded.

"What you need to understand is that each of those girls are their own person now. You've noticed how Sam is wearing her hair shorter. Rose has fifty billion pieces of jewelry on constantly. Roth is almost always reading something. Lily has her hair down to her waist. Sophia…Sophia's got glasses, for one," He said with a grin. Cyborg looked at his left arm, contemplating his sonic cannon. "All I'm saying is that each of them are different. They aren't Raven in different colors anymore," The Boy Wonder finished.

"Hm. Who knew a four foot tall pitchfork could be so deep?' Cyborg said.

"You're welcome," Robin replied sarcastically, leaving the room.


	7. A New Ally, A New Quest

-1Cyborg: Holy crap! I'm getting a real pairing!

Me: Yes, Cyborg, I didn't forget about you.

Raven: To be honest, it's kind've creepy.

Me: (sigh) Everyone's a critic.

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"Why do you withhold that which legend has promised?!" Slade raged, gripping the Gem of Murder tightly. The gem remained unresponsive, taunting him.

With a frustrated scream, he threw the Gem to the ground. Of course, it didn't break. It didn't even leave a mark. "If Murder is not responding…perhaps it needs a 'jump' as it were. Something to get it going… Maybe I have to commit murder…" Slade mused. Images flashed through his mind of any one of the Titans splayed dead on the ground, himself standing tall above them, the Gem of Murder glowing black on his hand.

"Yes… that's it. I'll have to murder one of the Titans. That should charge the Gem. How to go about this, though…" Slade trailed off to himself. Frowning, he turned to the door behind him and exited the room.

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"_**Garfield, we must act quickly. Slade is on the move, I can sense his evil intentions. No time to waste. Alert the others. Your girlfriend should be able to locate him. Go!" **_Beast Boy shot up out of bed at Elerana's sudden command. He looked to his clock, which read five after three in the morning. Moaning, he shut his eyes.

"Does it have to be now?" He groaned. A feeling, something beyond words, told him that indeed he must move as fast as possible. Climbing out of his bed, the changeling ran for the common room. Running too fast, in fact, to stop himself from running over Starfire as she passed in front of him in the hallway.

"Beast Boy?" Starfire squinted, attempting to untangle herself from the boy. Beast Boy sighed. "Beast Boy, why are you running so quickly at this time of night?" She asked.

"Elerana says Slade is coming. She told me to move, and fast. Therefore, I'm moving fast," He explained. The princess nodded.

"I shall follow you, then," She said. Nodding, he motioned to her as he continued his mad dash for the common room. Once there, he almost broke the handle off of the emergency alarm switch. Then, he waited.

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"Sophie… love you too…" Cyborg mumbled in his sleep. Bad timing, considering said girl was entering his room to alert him to the alarm system. She blushed furiously before hitting his emergency wakeup button.

"Whaa? Sophia? What're you doing?" Cyborg yelped as he disengaged his charging station.

"The alarm has been set off," She said simply. Boy, was it a bad time to be blushing. She was in a pale yellow set of pajamas with no way to cover her face. Also, Cyborg noticed, her face was absent of her glasses. _Even prettier," _He thought briefly. He nodded and followed her out.

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"What in Sam Hell?!" Robin shot up in bed. He immediately took in three important facts, in this order: 1) Starfire was not next to him. 2) The alarm was going off. 3) He had just said "Sam Hell." Taking a moment to contemplate how retarded "Sam Hell" sounded, he frowned and ran out the door.

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"As if this place doesn't blink enough," Terra muttered, severely annoyed to be woken up from such peaceful sleep. All of a sudden, Sam's head, complete with disheveled hair that looked absolutely ridiculous, popped into her doorway.

"C'mon, Rocky! Alarm's goin' off!" She yelled, proceeding to hustle down the hall.

"_Rocky_?" Terra muttered, even more annoyed as she followed suit.

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"Why, oh why do I even try?" Drake sang sarcastically as he threw his suit and mask on. Checking all of his weapons systems, he thumbs-upped himself in his mirror and sped off.

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"I was just getting to a good part, too," Raven grumbled. Now, normally when she said this late at night she would be referring to one of her large books. However, since being involved with Beast Boy, incidents such as these, in which she was referring to a video game, were beginning to occur more frequently.

Setting down the controller, she mumbled a few incomprehensible words, yawned, and threw her cloak on before running out her door.

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"Alright, what's the problem?" Robin cried, bursting into the room. Beast Boy blinked at him. _Okay, if this is a false alarm, he is so dead, _The Boy Wonder growled mentally.

"Wait for everyone else to get here. I'm not repeating this fifty thousand times," Beast Boy told. Nodding, Robin took a seat on the couch.

Raven was next. "This had better be good, Garfield Mark Logan," She warned, pointing a finger at him as she took a seat on the couch opposite Robin.

Terra followed Sam in. "If I hear the term "Gamestation" or "action figure", you are dead," Sam told him. Beast Boy nodded and smiled slightly.

The others filed in shortly thereafter, making various warnings and threats as they came through. Finally, once everyone had settled in, Beast Boy began.

"Alright, Elerana tells me that Slade's moving. She told me Raven might be able to find him. Can you?" He asked. Raven frowned.

"Depends. More than likely not if the Gems are running interference," She said, closing her eyes. After a couple minutes, she shook her head. "No good. The Gems are stopping me."

Elerana swore repeatedly inside of Beast Boy's head. _**"Damn! He's farther along than I'd hoped, then… Ugh. There has to be some way that we find him. Has to be!" **_She muttered. Beast Boy sighed. Was this how Raven felt when her emotions were stuck in Nevermore?

"He'll be headed for the Tower," Drake said suddenly. Everyone turned to stare. He sighed.

"Look, if he's moving all of a sudden, there's only one reason he would do as such. He's realized that Murder isn't as powerful as he thought it was. And I know he realizes how the Gems can amplify certain characteristics," He explained.

"Which means…?" Robin probed.

"He's coming to kill us. I'd lay any amount of money that he thinks murdering someone will activate that Gem. Or, if he knows it's a fake, he'll be after Raven. Regardless, he's headed this way," He said. Everyone goggled at him.

"_**Smart kid," **_Elerana commented.

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"Halt!" Slade stopped in his tracks. He had just entered downtown Jump City. Spinning around, he looked all over for the source of the voice.

"I do not hide, Slade," The voice was behind him. Slade turned around again. A woman stood before him, regarding him solemnly. She wore a midnight blue shirt with a pair of jean shorts. She could have been an average citizen, if not for three very distinctive features. For one, her skin was pale, reminiscent of Raven's. Second, her eyes were a shade of red that looked as though they were seeing your very soul. And third, she wore a medium-sized shield on her back and a scabbard slung behind it. She looked almost as though cosplaying for a Legend of Zelda convention.

"And you are?" Slade asked. The woman cocked her head at him, smiling, giving Slade a distinctly uncomfortable feeling.

"I? My name is Syrnium, Guardian of the Gems and Archangel of the Horsemen. And you will not set foot in Titan's Tower again," She assured him, drawing her weapon and shield. The shield itself was the same shade of blue as her shirt, trimmed in black and angular in shape. The sword was of medium length, and Slade noticed that the blade was not metal, though he couldn't place the material.

"You think you have an advantage because you have a weapon?" Slade smirked and pulled out his staff. Lightning fast, Syrnium leapt forward and sliced the staff cleanly, leaving the broken parts smoking in his hand. He eyes widened as he looked down at them and back up.

"Retreat, and no harm will be done," Syrnium said. Slade snorted.

"I did not come this far to be denied by some girl scout and her toys," He said, launching himself at her. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"If that is your choice," She replied. Just before Slade made contact, she moved, supernaturally fast and allowed him to fall to the ground. He caught himself and turned around, glowering. Holding his hand up, he activated Murder.

"Do you really think that will help you?" Syrnium asked. He let out a short, barking laugh and jumped at her again. This time, she hit him with her shield, knocking him to the ground.

"Give?" She suggested.

"Not even close," Slade snarled as he got on his feet.

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"Fine then. Raven, we can't afford to let him have you. Terra, Beast Boy, take her away from here. Somewhere where Slade wouldn't think to look. Wait for our signal to come back. The rest of us will find Slade," Robin directed. Raven growled slightly, but nodded along with everyone else.

Then Beast Boy "transformed" again, Elerana taking the reins. "No need. He's East. Follow me." And with that, she beckoned to the others and headed through the door. Everyone looked to Robin, who shrugged.

"Titans, Go!" He told them. Raven smacked him on her way by.

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"What the…who is _that?_" Cyborg wondered as they came upon the battle. Beast Boy glowed again, and was back to normal. Beast Boy heard a slight gasp and a new confidence from his Guardian.

"_**Hah! That's Syrnium, Archangel of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She led the charge in the first battle against the Evil Gods. Trust me, her being around is an excellent turn for us," **_Elerana announced cheerily.

"Ah, Titans! Good to see you. Good to see that you were able to overcome the God of Hatred, too, Elerana," Syrnium added as she noticed the blue gem. Then Sam pointed past her.

"Watch your six!" She called out as Slade came at the swordswoman with his staff. Syrnium was unable to turn quickly enough to block the attack. She didn't have to.

"Traitor!" Robin grunted as he shoved Slade backwards. The two began sparring viciously, each matching the other's expertise. Suddenly, Slade warped away.

"What the…?" Robin cried as he stumbled forward. Raven sighed.

"We're never going to get anywhere like this. Every time Slade feels endangered, he's going to warp away. And….what the? The Gems!" She yelled. All of the "purified" Gems had reverted to their former state. Everyone looked to Syrnium.

"I am not surprised. Only those who can overcome the evil within the Gem will be able to permanently purify them. That doesn't mean that the purifying traits aren't there. Rather, the Gem simply overpowered it's holder," Syrnium explained.

"So we not only don't have any purified Gems except Loyalty, but Slade's Gems are still at almost full power. Great!" Robin threw his hands up. Syrnium put a hand on his shoulder.

"All is not lost, Richard. We must convene in the Tower," She told him. Pausing momentarily at the use of his real name, he nodded.

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"There is still a way. We, the Four Horsemen, the Gem Guardians and I created one final weapon in the event that someone were to reawaken the Gems. It is called the Gem Siphon. The Siphon will seal the evil energy inside of itself, just as it was before," She told them.

"Wait. If the energy was sealed into the Siphon, how did it get back out into the Gems?" Jinx asked.

"And where exactly is this thing?" Sam added.

Syrnium smiled. "To the first question, I believe Slade managed to find a way to break the seal that held the energy. To the second, it is locked away deep in a place where no human would ever be able to reach it. How Slade found out about it, I do not know. But the Siphon is guarded, locked away by three keys. These keys are scattered across the world, which means we must split up to search for them," She replied.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You guys sealed this energy up. Slade managed to get it back out, and now we get to go on a worldwide scavenger hunt?" Cyborg said.

"In short, yes. I know the general location of each Key. There are…" She paused to do a head count, "sixteen of us. So we will divide ourselves into groups of five and six and search for the Keys," She finished.

"Alright. So who's going in what group?" Raven asked.

Robin looked thoughtful. "Okay, jump in if anyone has any objections, but here we go. Group one, I think, should be Raven, Beast Boy, Jinx, Marylyn, and Angella," He said. Everyone nodded, and the five mentioned gathered together.

"Group two will be Terra, Sam, Cyborg, Starfire, Carrie and Roth. Which leaves me, Syrnium, Drake, Lilith and Rose," The Titan's leader finished. Getting nods of approval from everyone, he turned to Syrnium. "Where are these keys?" He asked.

Syrnium thought momentarily. "One is deeply hidden within the mountains that you refer to as Everest. Another is buried in the seas, kept in Atlantis. And finally, the third is inside an active volcano, the location of which few know," She said. Everyone stared.

"_**Well. Looks like we're in for some serious searching. I didn't realize they'd been THAT serious when they hid the damned things," **_Elerana grumbled silently to Beast Boy.

"Wow. Okay… Group one, you'll be taking Everest. Neither of the other groups will be able to go as fast and last as long as you guys. Group two will take the volcano. Terra, you can manipulate the entire thing, and Cyborg's cooling systems will make sure he's okay. Starfire's natural resilience should be enough to ensure her safety. And group three will go find Aqualad and go to Atlantis," Robin finished.

"_**That was unexpected. Robin and Starfire are gonna be on two different missions. I hope they'll be alright…" **_Elerana said. Beast Boy felt similarly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to truly focus and fight if Raven was so far away and in such danger.

"Alright. Everyone prepare yourselves, and let's get moving," Syrnium said.

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	8. Crash and Burn

-1Raven: Mt. Everest?!

Me: Yup.

Beast Boy: This is crap. I so do not get paid enough…

Raven: Agreed.

Me: You're getting paid millions. Can it.

Raven: …

Beast Boy: …

Me: (running)

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"Wow. The pictures really don't do it justice, do they?" Beast Boy said as they stood at the foot of Mt. Everest. Everyone made various noises of agreement as they stared up at the beast. The group was dressed for the weather, yet the mountain still daunted them. Raven was simply wearing an artificial-fur version of her cloak, while the others wore simple parkas. Beast Boy had no need to additional clothing, as he could turn into any number of cold-dwelling creatures.

"No kidding. And she didn't say it was necessarily at the top, either. Well, let's go," Raven said. With that, she kicked off, flying up to a ledge on the mountain about 30 feet up. Beast Boy took ahold of Jinx and followed, trailed by the others.

"Alright… Jesus. How the hell are we supposed to find one key in all of this?" Angella wondered. Raven held her hands up. Beast Boy paused for a moment.

"Elerana says that she can faintly feel the key's presence. We're way too low. Let's start climbing," He said, beginning to walk forward. Raven stopped him.

"Why climb? We can fly," She said. He shook his head.

"It's not on the mountain, Rae. It's _in _the mountain. We're not gonna be able to just fly around the mountain 'till I get a signal. We have to figure out where it is manually," He explained. Her eyes widened.

"Inside? Garfield, this mountain is solid! It's impossible!" She told him. It made sense. If the key was hidden here, it couldn't be inside the mountain.

"Raven, Elerana says that somewhere on this mountain is a door that will lead into a series of secret passages within this mountain. That's where we need to be. C'mon," He said again. Shaking their heads, they followed.

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"What made you change your mind?" Cyborg asked Sophia. Robin had not initially put her into a team, deciding rather to leave Sophia in charge of Titan's Tower while everyone was away. Sophia, however, had other ideas, and had gone with Group 2 into the volcano.

"A few things," She said. She smiled at him, and the understanding between the two didn't need to be spoken.

"Here we are," Syrnium told them. She had led them deep into a remote part of Asia, into a place where no volcano should be. But yet, here was one. And it was huge. The Archangel turned to the team. "Good luck," Was all she said before disappearing.

"Oh good," Terra said dryly. Raising a glowing yellow hand, she created stairs up the mountain. Those who could fly did so, except Sophia who took the stairs alongside Cyborg. In the air, Sam gagged, while Starfire practically danced with pure joy. Once everyone was ready, they took the plunge into the heart of the monster, Sophia's hands firmly on Cyborg;s shoulders as to ensure safe landings.

Once inside, shields were put up to protect the "Ravens" from the heat. "This is ridiculous. Who hides a key in a frickin' volcano?" Sam complained. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Someone who wishes it to be found only by those who want it so badly?" She responded rhetorically. The group carefully advanced, both eyes out for the key. After a time, they had made it several feet down below the height they had initially started, with no progress. The pathway was a ledge the jutted out of the volcano's walls, spiraling downward.

"So… Is it maybe in the walls? Maybe- Uh!" Starfire grunted in pain, having been kicked with enough force to send her off the ledge. The only thing that saved the group from seeing Starfire Crisp was her flying ability, and she was mad. No one needed to question the source of the kick; a group of Bloods stood in front of them, blocking the path.

The fight became precarious, as it was taking place on such a small area. It got worse when the Bloods started gaining ground, forcing the Titans back. Then, something terrible happened.

Sam let out a horrid scream of pain. One of the Bloods had, by chance, landed a punch directly on her chakra gem. The pieces of the gem fell to floor, as did Sam. "NO!" Terra cried. Knocking the Blood off and into the lava, she picked Sam up. "Can you hear me?" She asked the former emotion. Slow but sure, Sam got to her feet, swaying slightly.

"Let's get you out of here," Terra whispered. She began to walk Sam out, but a blood slapped her away. Wiping dirt off of her face, she leapt back up. And was knocked back down. Terra tried hitting the Blood with various rocks, but he somehow blocked them before hitting her again. She tried blocking with her powers, and even attempted to fly away on a rock. She was simply knocked off of the rock, leaving her on the ground again.

Finally, the Blood smirked, pulling out a black, jagged knife. Raising it up, he plunged it down. Terra tried to roll, but there was no need. Sam leapt forward and slammed the Blood, grappling with him as they fell off of the ledge. "SAM!!" Terra yelled. Everyone, startled, looked over in Terra's direction to see Sam descending. Sophia's eyes widened, and she kicked off after them pair.

"What're you doing?!" Cyborg bellowed. _Sam can fly! No need to have both of them in there! _He thought.

"She can't fly! That chakra!" Sophia yelled over her shoulder as she sped into a dive. Like a missile, she flew. _C'mon! FASTER! _She urged her powers. But she was pushed to the maximum, her powers doing all that they could.

Sam was continuing to fight with the blood in midair. Her aim thrown off, her arms and legs merely flailed at her opponent. Two swift blows to her stomach practically knocked her out, and limply she fell.

Sophia saw this, and her face drained of color. Extending her hand, she tried to catch the falling girl with her powers. No good. The Blood was using the last of its energy to shield Sam from Sophia's attempts. Sophia growled and continued down.

But it was too late. Time seemed to slow as Sam's and the Blood's bodies simultaneously hit the lava. The smell of sizzling flesh filled Sophia's nostrils, who pulled up, realizing that she failed. Tears streaming down her face, she ascended, finally collapsing onto the ledge she had leapt from. All she could do was cry.

Terra had gone cold. Sam was dead. There was no denying it. Unlike Slade, there would be no inexplicable force to revive her. Sam was utterly, irrevocably, irreversibly dead. Terra simply stared down into the lava. There wouldn't even be a body to recover for a remembrance. And it was all to protect her.

Her face contorted with rage. Syrnium had simply abandoned them to go on a merry little scavenger hunt in a volcano with no clues as to where the key might be. No warnings that the Church of Blood might know where the volcano was. _Nothing_. She closed her eyes and took her communicator out. "Terra to Robin, over," She said, voice cracking. The others looked to her, and she nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Robin to Terra. What's wrong?" Robin asked. He saw tears in Terra;s eyes. Something was wrong. VERY wrong if Terra was crying.

Terra vibrated with rage. "Sam's dead. Bloods attack us, and they destroyed her chakra. Then one of them started hammering me, and she took both it and herself down into a pit of lava. Sam. Is. Dead," She repeated.

Robin's mouth hung open. It couldn't be. Terra had to be pulling a sick joke. Sam…dead? A Teen Titan, truly dead? No. It couldn't have happened. "B-B-But…no…please tell me this is a terrible joke," He pleaded. Terra wiped the tears from her face.

"I can't, Robin. She's gone. Her body is literally ashes. There's no way she's coming back. Period. I'm sorry… We did what we could. Sophia went after her, but she wasn't fast enough. None of us were," She added. Robin heard a fresh wail rise up from

somewhere behind Terra. The Boy Wonder closed his eyes.

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"Alright. Do your best to find that key and get the fuck out of there, then. Good luck," He told Terra, cutting the connection. He threw the communicator down, seething with rage and sorrow and guilt. _I put Sam in that volcano. I should've known better. I should've known that she'd be too aggressive to be around that sort of environment… I should've known! _He was furious with himself.

"ROBIN!" Syrnium said again, more firmly this time. He snapped out of his thoughts and whipped around.

"WHAT?!" He snarled at her. She recoiled.

"What was that?" She asked him, gesturing to the communicator on the ground.

"Sam…she's…she…" Robin couldn't say it. He just couldn't.

"Sam is what?" Lilith asked sharply. Robin closed his eyes behind his mask, which was quickly becoming wet. He breathed in, breathed out, and spoke.

"She's dead." He finally managed. Everyone stared, color drained from their faces, mouths open, eyes wide in shock. Tears were welling in their eyes.

"No…" Rose whispered. Robin nodded.

"Terra says she fell into a pit of lava. There's no body. I… There's no denying it. She's gone. I have to tell Raven…" Robin sighed deeply and picked his communicator up. "Robin to Raven. Over," He said.

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"Raven to Robin. What's up?" Raven asked, shivering. The parka wasn't doing a very good job, although Elerana said that they were getting closer. She knew something was _very _wrong the instant she saw how wet his mask was. This left her with two possibilities. One: Something had happened while they were in the water. This was dispelled by the fact that the rest of him was dry. Which left number two: he had been crying.

"Robin, what happened?" She asked, a little too frantically. Robin _never _cried, just like Beast Boy never called her Rachel. This had to be serious.

"Jesus Christ. It's hard enough saying it once… I can't…" Robin moaned. Suddenly, Syrnium's face appeared on the communicator.

"Raven. Before I tell you this, you have to promise me that you'll remain calm enough to keep searching," She said. Raven nodded. "Alright. Samantha is dead. She fell into a pit of lava saving Terra. I'm sorry," Syrnium said. Raven did not react. Finally, she bowed her head, closing her eyes. After a moment, she looked back up.

"Syrnium, listen to me. Don't let Robin go too much harder on himself than he is right now, or else you won't be able to get him to stay the course. Make sure that doesn't happen. I'll contact you once we've located the key," Raven replied. Syrnium nodded, and the connection was cut.

"Raven, what was that?" Beast Boy asked.

"Sam's dead. She sacrificed herself to the lava to save Terra. Come on," She said shortly.

"WHAT?!" Beast Boy yelled.

"You heard me. Don't make me repeat it," She told her boyfriend. He stood, stunned. His face twisted into a snarl, and a low growl emitted from deep inside of him.

"We can't dwell on it, Gar. We need to end this, for her. And to do that, we need that key. Let's keep moving. Like I said, for her," Raven said. And with that, she turned and began to walk in the direction Elerana had been pointing them in. Beast Boy sighed, admitted to himself that she was right, and followed, morphing into a polar bear as he did so.

"_**We're near, Garfield. Can you feel it?" **_Beast Boy nodded, indeed sensing a feeling of power emitting from somewhere nearby. **_"Then lead the way," _**She told him.

Following Beast Boy, the group soon came upon a small, snowed in cove. Raven tunneled through it, uncovering a door, snow-covered and ancient. It wasn't stone; rather, it was a solid slab of ruby, sapphires sprinkled along it.

"So…how do we open it?" Jinx wondered, looking to Beast Boy. For some reason, the changeling just _knew _what to do. Stepping forward, he looked to the door.

"My name is Garfield Mark Logan. I come in the name of peace, seeking the Gem Key to seal the evil of the Seven Gems. Open!" He commanded. And indeed it did. "Let's do this," He said to the others, entering the passage. The others looked at each other, shrugged, and followed.

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"Whu….what? Where am I?" Sam awakened to find herself in seemingly midair. Instinctively, she tried to use her powers to remain airborne, but found two things. One: She didn't have powers. Two: She didn't need them to fly at the moment. Now even more confused, she looked around to take in her surroundings.

She was, as mentioned, hovering in the air. In front of her lay a large, golden door. The only other thing around was air. Shrugging, Sam flew to the door and opened it. Finding ground on the other side, she landed and looked around. The room looked like some sort of mixture of a stable and an office. A large table with multiple chairs was set up on the left side, and to the right were four stalls, each with a different horse inside, neighing as she entered.

"What _is _this place?" Sam wondered. Feeling another presence, she stopped cold. "Who's there?" She called.

"I did not mean to scare you," A voice said. She spun around. A man stood before her, carrying a bow. She immediately thought of Speedy, but rationalized that he wore no mask. She noticed that he carried no quiver. He was tall, at least a head above her, and he looked fondly over to the white horse in it's stable.

"Settle down, Conkie," He told it, coming forward and patting its head. Turning to Sam, he smiled.

"My name is Conquest. This is my horse, of the same name. And you are Samantha Roth, correct?" He asked. She nodded, some inkling of understanding dawning upon her.

"You're… you're one of those Horseman dudes, aren't you?" She wondered. He smiled again and nodded. "So what am I doing here? Wait… Oh, Azar. Am I dead?" She asked.

"The best answer I can give to that is yes and no. You are, for the moment, non-existent in the mortal world," He said.

"So what am I? A spirit? A soul? A ghost?" Sam asked fearfully. He gave her a reassuring look.

"You are none of those. You are still human. You are simply on a… higher plain, if you will. In any case, you arrival is a blessing. We are preparing for battle, in the case that either the Siphon fails or your friends are unable to reach it in time. It would be quite fitting for you to return to the mortal world as part of the forces of light, yes?" He said.

She grinned. "Alright, I'm in. Lead the way," She told him. Smiling again, he walked back through the door Sam had came in from. Raising a brow, she followed.

Stepping out from the door, Sam found herself in a completely different place than what had been there before. She took one look around the room, and her eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. Various swords and other ornate weapons were contained in display cases all around.

Conquest laughed. "Arm yourself here. You will need the weapons, as your powers will not operational as long as Slade is around," He told her.

"Why not?" She yelped.

"He, ultimately, is the one that killed you. One of his soldiers claimed your mortal life. Therefore, your powers collected within the Gem of Murder. Not the true one, but the one he possesses. Once that is destroyed… then your powers will be yours," He explained. She nodded, advancing towards one of the cases. Reaching in, she withdrew a straight, two-edged sword, medium in length. Removing it from the scabbard, she tested it in her hands, swinging it in some simple patterns. She shook her head and replaced it.

Half an hour later, with Conquest looking intently at her, she finally found one she liked. It was slightly longer than Syrnium's, with a double-edged steel blade. She had also selected a short, hip-mounted dagger.

"Alright, what next?" She asked eagerly. Conquest laughed, shaking his head, and beckoned for her to follow.


	9. Trials of Atlantis

-1

"In Atlantis?" Aqualad asked skeptically. He knew Atlantis like the back of his hand, and he had never heard of some key hidden within it.

"Yes. We, the Horsemen and I, have it hidden in a place no mere mortal, including an Atlantian, would be able to get to. All we need of you is to grant us safe passage," Syrnium told him. Aqualad raised an eyebrow.

"Alright. I don't know where the heck you're going that I wouldn't know about, but…," Aqualad said. Motioning, he dove into the water. Robin and his team climbed into the T-Ship and followed him, making sure to keep close.

After a short travel, they saw it. "Wow. It's… beautiful," Rose said. Robin furrowed his eyebrows.

"Syrnium, how're we going to breath down here, let alone be able withstand the pressure?" He asked. Syrnium smiled, but Aqualad answered.

"Atlantis has a magic surrounding it. We Atlantians don't breathe underwater. The entire city is protected. I've already alerted authorities about your arrival. They've got an area secured for you to land. Come one," He said.

Sure enough, there was a clear spot for the T-Ship to land on. Disembarking, Syrnium took a look around. "The city certainly has grown from when I last saw it," She commented.

"You're the Teen Titans, correct?' Robin spun, taking a defensive pose briefly before realizing that the voice belonged to another Atlantian.

"Oh. Sorry. Yes, we're the Teen Titans. We've come in search of an item supposedly hidden deep within the city," Robin explained. The man nodded.

"Alright. Well, good luck," He said before walking away. Everyone looked to Syrnium.

"Follow me," She told them. After some walking about the city, they came to a stop in front of a large statue of a man holding a trident.

"Poseidon," Robin commented. Syrnium shook her head.

"A very common mistake, and most likely what the people here believe. However, this is not Poseidon. This is where Poseidon came from. Rather, this is the Evil God of Violence, Arza. Before we came, this area was ruled by Arza. We used the statue to fool those who would seek the Gems and/or keys into believing this statue to indeed be Poseidon. Now…" She stepped forward and unsheathed her weapon. Closing her eyes, she held it up, pointing it at the head of Arza.

Some sort of energy began crackling on the blade of the sword, and suddenly the statue began to glow the same color as her sword. A moment later, it split down the center, the halves falling away to reveal a door on the ground.

"Whoa," Drake commented. Syrnium nodded, then studied the door. Finding a small slot, she smiled to herself and rose her sword again. This time, she plunged it down into the slot, causing the door to literally melt away. She motioned from the others to follow, and jumped down.

"I repeat: whoa. What is this place?" Drake wondered. They had landed in a passage about two feet underground. Covering the walls, ceiling and floor were tiles of various precious stones and metals, such as rubies, gold, emeralds, diamonds, etc. etc..

"Jewel Passage. This is the way to the Key," Syrnium said.

"So it's that simple?" Robin asked, surprised.

"No. Each Key's passage holds five trial rooms. They can range from puzzles, to fights, even a simple question and answer test. Anything is possible. Ah, here. The first trial awaits us," Syrnium said as they approached a door. It had writing on it, and Robin stepped forward to read it aloud.

"Ye who would seek the key, bring not friends, but rather prove your own worth. If ye be willing to do so, advance," He read. He looked at the group and shrugged. "Here I go," He said, entering the room.

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"Okay…" Robin said to himself. He had stepped forward into what he quickly recognized as the kitchen of Titan's Tower. He spun left, then right, looking for anything odd or out of place.

"ROBIN!" The yell made him jump, but the voice was unmistakable. "Star? What're you doing here?" He asked as he returned the hug she gave him.

"Do you not want me here?" She asked, cocking her head.

"Oh, no no no! I just kind've wondered how you got here, was all," He said quickly. She smiled, a perversion of the smile she usually wore.

"I simply followed you in. I couldn't stand being away from you, Robin," She told him. Robin realized that Starfire was advancing on him.

"Wha… Star, are you okay?" He asked.

"Of course!" She said brightly as usual. Then she did something that made Robin almost freeze in terror. She reached down and began to pull on her top.

"What the hell?!" He yelled, turning his back on her. _"Is she seriously doing what I think she's doing?!" _Robin wondered. Then, another voice, his own yet not his own, also spoke. _"And should I really be complaining?". _His eyes widened as he thought this. Then he heard Starfire's voice float above him, innocent as ever.

"Is something wrong? Do I not have it 'going on' as Beast Boy says? Why are you shielding yourself from me?" She asked. Robin's face flushed red. _"Note to self: rigorously interrogate Beast Boy later to find out if he said that to her," _He thought.

"Star… stop…," Robin protested, fighting his testosterone urge to turn around. Then it clicked. _"Prove yourself…It's a test…," _He realized what he had to do. Withdrawing a pair of Birdarangs, he formed the Birdarang sword and whipped around, slashing at his girlfriend. His suspicions were confirmed as one strike caused her to vanish into white smoke.

Instantly, Titan's Tower disappeared around him, revealing an open door on the other side of the room. Smiling to himself, he ran for the door and exited the room. "Robin one, hormones zip," He said happily as he advanced to the next door, reading it.

"Ye who seeks the key, advance not on your own merit, but rely rather on friends," It read. This confused Robin. Only one person was allowed to go through the five trials. "How the hell am I supposed to 'rely on my friends?'" He wondered. Shrugging and shaking his head, he entered the second room.

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He had barely stepped into the room when he was attacked. He barely had time to register the blow, but still managed to block it. It didn't take long to locate his opponent, as there were no extra surroundings. He was in a normal room; well, normal for this passage.

"Blackfire?" He wondered even as his girlfriend's sister dove at him again. This time he was forced to backflip in order to avoid a barrage of Starbolts.

"That's right. Run, run, run, fast as you can, but it won't help!" She smirked as she fired another round off. Robin dodged again, silently agreeing with her.

"_What the hell? I don't remember her being this good…" _He thought as he threw a Birdarang at her. She caught, yes, _caught _it and sent it flying back at him.

"What the hell?!" He cried, jumping to avoid being hit. Then he noted something strange. On the opposite wall lay five crystals, each on their own pedestal. The gems were different colors: green, purple, blue, yellow and orange. Figuring that they weren't there for decoration, he ran towards them, dodging attacks along the way.

"What the heck are these? Maybe you have to pick them up?" He wondered. He picked up the yellow one, not noticing a difference. Suddenly, another storm of bolts flew at him. And somehow, instinctively, his hand glowed yellow, and a piece of the floor rose up to shield him. He looked down, staring at his hands as he put two and two together.

"Which means…" He laughed as he realized what had to be done. Putting the yellow stone back, he grabbed the orange one. Letting instinct lead him, he kicked off and flew into the sky. "Alright, let's go," He said, his eyes glowing green. The two flew at each other, both unleashing numerous Starbolts. Finally, they slammed into each other, exactly what Robin wanted.

Using his experience in hand to hand combat, he easily took Blackfire down after several midair melee fights. As Blackfire hit the ground, she glowed, and from where she landed rose Trigon in his Rage-sized form. Tossing the orange stone aside, he grasped the purple gem and again kicked off, wrenching glowing black gems out of the walls and pelting Trigon with them.

Shielding himself from a laser from his opponent's eyes, he performed one of Raven's favorite moves, embodying himself in the form of a gigantic black raven and diving at the demon. Remember just how his teammate executed the move, He dove, pulled up in front of Trigon, and kicked him square in the face with his "talons." Trigon glowed and fell backward, defeated. Again, a new challenger rose, this time Monsieur Mallah. Robin smirked and switched purple for green, letting his mind focus on The Beast.

Transforming, Robin rushed Mallah, only to be thrown across the room. "_Looks like they get tougher every time," _He thought. Being on his guard this time, Robin circled Mallah, finally rushing forward and sweeping the monkey's legs from under him. Seizing his chance, Robin leapt up and performed a nasty elbow drop, causing Mallah to yell in pain. Dodging a counter-attack, Robin rolled off, springing to his feet.

Again, Robin's training in close-quarters paid off. Mallah was good, but he just couldn't overcome the footwork and finesse Robin showed. Finally he fell, and Brother Blood rose in his wake.

Robin grabbed the blue crystal and instantly felt his body changing, transforming, adding the cybernetic parts to his body. Raising the arm cannon, he fired, missing as Blood rolled and sprung at Robin, connecting with a flying kick. Robin hit the wall with a grunt, trying to remember, to decide what he could best do with these powers in this situation. Finally, he let loose with the missile launcher, scoring several hits.

Blood stood back up and fired back with his own arm cannon. Robin jumped to the side and fired another round of missiles. Then he got an idea. An off the wall, absolutely insane idea, but an idea.

Cyborg had a built-in communications system with the T-Car on his arm. Robin paused briefly, wondering, and finally attempted to summon the T-Car. Dodging another round of fire, Robin waited.

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"I hope he's alright in there," Syrnium said, pacing.

Drake laughed. "Don't worry, Robin can take care of hi- what the hell?!" He yelped as he ducked. The T-Car had blown by them, and the halls of the passage had widened to allow the vehicle safe entry.

Everyone turned to stare at each other. "Um…" Drake trailed off.

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"Ya-HAH!" Robin cried as the T-Car blew through the door he had entered through, knocking Brother Blood aside. Leaping in, Robin punched it, doing doughnuts all over the arena. Brother Blood couldn't avoid the assault, and quickly went down. Grinning, Robin got out of the car and waited for his next opponent.

Raven jumped out from where Blood was laying. Robin furrowed his brows before remembering that Raven and Terra had been practically arch-enemies in the past. As he let go of the blue gem, the T-Car turned around and sped off back through the door. Shrugging, he snatched up the yellow crystal again, sending a slab of rock at Raven.

The attack surprised her, and to Robin's horror and shock, the stone knocked her head back far enough to break her neck.

Dropping the yellow crystal, he walked confidently through the third door.

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Walking through the short hall, he read the third door. "Ye who would seek the key, find that which you have lost," He read. He sighed at the vague directions and entered.

Robin looked around and arched a brow. He stood on a stone ledge in a brightly lit room, staring across a vast expanse of nothingness. The door out was quite far away, with seemingly no way to cross the chasm. Looking around, he lit a flare and threw it down. He never heard it hit bottom.

"Great," He muttered. Staring across the door, he tried to think. There was nothing to grapple onto. No hidden button to make a bridge. But yet… "I can't just give up. I _have _to cross, to beat this. I won't let Sam's life be wasted. That which you have lost…" He murmured. He had lost a lot of things. His parents. His connection with Batman. Most recently, Sam. But none of those would help him…

Finally, it came to him. Memories and images flashed in his mind.

"_You mean, you won't yell at us for trying to take care of you?"_

"_You could've gotten Starfire KILLED, Beast Boy!"_

"_He was RIGHT THERE, Starfire! How could you let him get away!?"_

"_Cinderblock only escaped because Cyborg messed up the SonicBoom."_

"_That is not true. You and Slade are much alike. He did not trust you, and you did not trust us."_

"Trust…" He said softly. It was almost painful to realize that he had, at one point or another, mistrusted the friends around him that would give their lives for him.

Taking a deep breath and praying he was right, he backed up and ran, leaping out into the void. Stretching his arms out, he waited. Feeling hands grasp his, he smiled to see Starfire holding him up. Using momentum, he swung off of her and fell again, caught by a pterodactyl. Leaping off it's back, he landed on a black platform of energy, Making one final jump, he used his grappling hook to latch on to Cyborg's extended arm and swing his way on to the other side of the room. Pumping his fist, he turned around just in time to see the Titans vanish. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he entered the next door,

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"Ye who would seek the key, only by knowing thyself will you know the truth and pass,"

He read. Entering the door, he found himself back in Titan's Tower.

"Again?" He wondered, finding himself in the common room. Suddenly, Raven rose from the floor.

"You disgust me," She said contemptuously. She swung on him, forcing him backwards. Feeling himself hit something, he spun to see Starfire.

"What's the matter, Robin? Afraid to hear your friend's true feelings?" She asked him dangerously. Horrified, he backed away, forgetting that the two women were illusions.

"In all the time we've followed you, you've brought us nothing but pain, Boy Blunder. You let me be taken by Slade," Raven accused him.

"You-you LET him take you!" Robin stuttered out.

"And you forcefully denied me as even your friend! I had to CRAWL back to you after we got off that god-awful planet!" Starfire exclaimed.

"And you didn't exactly leap to my side when I needed you either," A new voice came. Terra landed right in front of his face.

"I… no…" Robin mumbled, still backing up. Suddenly, they were all over him. Starbolts flew, rocks slammed him in the face, and a black hand threw him against the wall. "I don't want to fight…" He told them, but they did not let up. Then Sam appeared.

"You tossed me into that volcano, Robin. I died because of your poor leadership," She said. Robin's heart sank. He fell to his knees.

"No…please…" He did not fight back. He couldn't hurt his friends, no matter how much they attacked him. He tried to dodge, but it was no use.

"What do you want from me?!" He yelled, bruised, beaten. Then it clicked. He realized what he had to do.

"I did not fail you guys. I'm a better person, a better leader than that. For the longest time, I've blamed myself for every mistake I or anyone else on this team has made. No more! I have never and will never abandon my friends! You hear me?! I'M ONLY HUMAN!!" He cried.

Everything was gone. His injuries, the Tower, the girls, everything. Robin was left on the floor, panting. The door opened. He had succeeded.

"Screw the twelve labors. Hercules has nothing on me," Robin muttered as he neared the fifth and final door. Before he read it, he realized something. Every single one of these trials had used his friends in some form or another. Whether they were helping or harming him, they were in each trial in one form or another.

"My friends…no, my family…they're the most important part of my life. These tests…they've been trying my relationships with them. Two tested my trust, two tested my ability to know my friends from subtle impostors. So this final one…" He read the door.

"Ye who would seek the key, ye have come far. One test separates you from your goal. If ye wish to pass, you must face your greatest enemy," He read. "I have to fight Slade? If I win… we have the key! Alright, let's do this!" He said to himself jubilantly.


	10. Making the Grade

-1Sophia was past tears. She simply walked, numb, mind unbelieving that Sam could possibly be dead. Slowly, her mind began to be consumed with a cold, burning hatred. Sophia wanted Slade. Not dead. No, he did not deserve death, at least not yet. _No… He'll beg me to end his miserable existence when I'm through with him, _Sophia thought, lips in a snarl that no one saw.

Starfire found herself unable to fly. She simply couldn't think happily in the face of this tragedy. In the back of her mind, though, a small, evil voice was saying _"at least it was her and not Robin." _Ashamed as she was that she could think that, it was true.

Terra was the only one whose heart was still entirely into the search. Sam had died protecting her, and she would be damned if her sacrifice was going to waste. Finally, they found it.

"Guys, over here!" Terra cried, finding the door. They made their way over to where she stood and stared at the gateway.

"So…how does it open?" Cyborg wondered. Terra tried to wrench it open with her powers, to no avail. Cyborg tried to blast it, but the weapon ricocheted. Knowledge's powers also proved useless against it, as did Starfire's bolts. Terra growled. Whipping out her communicator, she contacted Syrnium.

"Terra to Syrnium. How the hell do we open this door?' Terra asked. Syrnium shrugged.

"Each door opens in its own unique way. Beast Boy had to tell the door who and what he was. My sword unlocked the one we're at. Good luck," And that was all Syrnium had to say, as the connection shut.

"Damn!" Terra swore. Then she noticed something. The door was cracked, an intricate design that Terra didn't recognize.

Sophia smiled. _She _definitely knew what it was. And what it meant. "Stand back," She said. Stepping forward, she placed her hand on the mark and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, her eyes glowed white and the symbol turned black. The door became consumed in a black aura and simply vanished, revealing a passage lined with various gemstones and metals.

Turning to the others, she spoke. "The door was meant to open for me. I shall undertake the trials," She told them before venturing in. The others nodded and sat down, each lost in their own thoughts.

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"Alright, let's see…. 'Ye who would seek the key, let not your eyes deceive you,'", eh? Alright," She said, opening the door.

Stepping forward, she found herself… "The hell?" She asked. She was back outside, standing in front of the door. The others looked at her. All of them. Including Sam.

"Sam?!" She cried in delight. She was about to run to her fallen comrade, but hesitated. "Wait… Sam's dead. Oh, nice try," Sophia smirked, drawing back and slamming Sam. Sam vanished, as did the volcano and door. Proceeding quickly, Sophia read the next door.

"Ye who would seek the key, play to win," She said. Shrugging, she went through. Looking down, she found herself standing in front of what seemed to be an arena of some sort. Taking the stairs up, she recognized the field immediately. "Azarathian dueling," She laughed. Stepping towards a table on one side of the field, she surveyed the various weapons and armor laying across it. On the other side, she saw Robin doing the same. This caused her to laugh again.

_A repeat of earlier, _She thought as she took a bow & arrow, trident and a wide shield. Robin had selected his own Birdarang sword, his freeze disks and a chain armor version of his usual suit.

And so, the two dueled.

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"Raven, I should go through the trials," Beast Boy said. Rave shook her head.

"No offense, but my powers are far more versatile. I can fly-"

"So can I," Beast By interjected.

Raven sighed. "Yes, but can you fight in anything but close quarters? Exactly. I'm going," She told him.

"You're too valuable to lose right now, Raven," Jinx said suddenly.

"Why's that?" The empath turned, surprised.

"You possess the seventh, most powerful Gem. If you're taken down in there, we're screwed," Jinx pointed out. "Let me go," She said as an afterthought.

Everyone looked around at each other. "Sounds reasonable to me," Angella said. Everyone nodded, and Jinx ventured into the passage.

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Robin flung open the door, instantly seeing his opponent. But it wasn't Slade. It wasn't a Blood.

It was…him?

As his opponent turned, Robin found himself staring at a mirror image of himself. The clone laughed.

"Are you really so surprised to see me? If you expected to find Slade, you're sadly mistaken. They say that everyone is their own worst enemy. And man, you sure take it to the extreme. Always berating yourself, never able to admit that you've done a truly good job," He told Robin. Then he smirked, a challenging expression as he drew his staff.

Robin nodded, extending his own weapon. Charging, the two twins slammed each other, staffs connecting brutally. It seemed as though each was mirroring the other's moves, blocking every blow.

"We're not getting anywhere like this," The clone told his origin. Leaping back, the impostor attempted a jabbing maneuver. Robin spun and seized his chance, slamming the staff against the side of his opponent's head.

The clone cried out, dropping the staff. Robin took this as his cue to continue the assault, and he began to press with a barrage of perfectly-executed kicks and punches, each aimed for weak points that he had learned in his time with Batman.

Suddenly, Robin disappeared. In his place, Sam dropped to the floor. Getting up on her hands and knees, she looked around wildly. "What the… Where…? Robin?!" She cried. Robin gasped, his face lighting up.

"Sam! You're al-" Robin stopped mid-sentence. She was hurt, badly. A slab of stone was piercing her torso, and her flesh had been burned away to reveal bone on some parts.

"Robin… Kill me. Please. End it… it hurts…" Sam groaned. Robin stood, horrified. Should he? Should he simply end her pain? Or was there some small chance that she could be healed?

"Please!" Sam cried, breathing heavily. Robin began to panic. What should he do? He couldn't bear to think of her as dead. Yet, he didn't want to leave his friend in such pain. He struggled with himself as vigorously as he had physically moments ago, trying to decide, listening to Sam's pleas for him to destroy her.

"_What if it were Starfire? You wouldn't kill her! _One part of him said. _"That's different, though! Starfire…she's my girlfriend. Sam's just Raven 2.0," _Another part argued. _"If you kill her, you'll regret it. You'll be haunted by the possibility that she could have been saved," _The first side replied.

Robin continued this argument with himself for several minutes, horrified at the prospect of murdering one of his friends. "I already fought myself, though! Why am I being put through a second test…wait… I'm still fighting! I have to…" Robin finally put an end to the argument and withdrew a freeze disk. Throwing it, he froze Sam. Closing his eyes, he whispered, "I'm sorry," and ran, demolishing the ice statue with one swift blow of his staff.

A light flashed, and where Sam once was lay a small key with a white diamond set in it. Smiling sadly, he bent down and grasped the key. Immediately, he felt himself being warped back, emerging from the Gem Door.

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"There he is!" Syrnium cried as Robin emerged, holding the Key. Syrnium smiled. "Very good. One down, two to…Robin?" She noticed Robin's face was dark, sad. "What's wrong?"

"The final test…I fought myself physically. I won, but when I did, Sam showed up. She was injured, horribly, pleading to me to end it for her. I… I had to. I killed my friend…" He mumbled. Syrnium placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No. Anyone else that appears in the five trials are illusions, Robin. Sam wasn't real. Sam died a valiant death. She wouldn't be there, begging at your knees. Trust me," She told him.

"Are you….sure?" Robin asked uncertainly. Syrnium nodded.

"Quite sure. Now, let's get out of here and split up. I'll show both groups where to go. Robin, Drake, would you like to go to the volcano?" She asked, Robin nodded far more vigorously than Drake, knowing that Starfire was in that volcano.

"Alright, then, Lilith. Could you warp us, please?" Lilith nodded, and the group disappeared into the ground.

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"You picked the WRONG day to mess with me!" Sophia growled as she swung the trident expertly. Robin ducked and weaved, futile in his efforts to find an open spot. Suddenly, Sophia got inspiration. Running at Robin, she repeated the trick Raven had used, grabbing at Robin's belt. Smiling at the five freeze disks she had procured, she flew to gain some distance.

Once in the air, she switched the trident with the bow. Notching an arrow, she slammed one of the disks onto the arrowhead, creating a freeze arrow. Narrowing her eyes, she took careful aim and fired. "Score!" She hissed, pumping her fist as Robin stood, frozen. Taking the trident out again, she threw it with precision, cracking her opponent cleanly in two.

The arena disappeared, and Sophia smirked as she entered the next room. "Ye who would seek the key, things happen as they will, a purpose behind them," The door read. "Huh?" She furrowed her brow and entered. She was in the volcano again. Looking on, she saw their group walking along the volcanic path. She noticed with a start that she was seeing herself, and more importantly, Sam as well as the others.

She realized that she was watching a replay of what had happened earlier as she watched Bloods attack. She forced herself to watch as her past self went after the falling girl. Then she noticed something different. Starfire was overtaking her, mere inches away from Sam.

"What the hell? Starfire wasn't… Is this gonna change it? Is Sam going to be alive again when I'm done? Or… Oh…" She disheartened when she realized what she had to do. Starfire was not suppose to save Sam. That wasn't what happened.

Saddened, Sophia flew at Starfire and knocked the alien girl's hand away, permitting Sam to fall into the lava once more. And once more, that god-awful smell infiltrated her nose, causing her to gag. Looking down, she saw the last of Sam's remains burn to ash before the illusion disappeared and the next door appeared.

Hanging her head in shame and guilt, she advanced.

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"Well, these Horsemen guys sure did have a good sense of decoration," Jinx said as she wandered down the passage to the first door. "Ye who would seek the key, your eyes are not your friend. Rely rather on yourself," She read, her eyes widening. "Er… ok…," She muttered as she pushed the door open.

"So…I'm ready whenever whoever the hell's listening is," She called out. As her cattish eyes surveyed her surroundings, she realized that she couldn't really survey much at all; it was almost pitch-black. Hesitantly, she fired off a round of her magic into the dark. She listened, but she never heard it connect with anything.

"Damn. I guess I'll just have to walk through," She concluded., venturing outwards. She felt a strange feeling of foreboding, and as such she treaded carefully. Normally, when she sensed danger she was pretty accurate.

She stopped dead when she realized she had come full circle back to the door. "What the hell? I didn't rely on my eyes…it's too dark, I can't see a thing. Wait…" She pondered, finally realizing that perhaps she had to _close _her eyes, as opposed to attempting to use them.

Closing her eyes tightly, Jinx stepped out again. As she walked, she…_felt_…. Dangers, sidestepping pits of nails, jumping holes, and ducking under razors. Finally, she sensed that she was at the end, and once more opened her eyes. Seeing the next door, she smiled and entered.

"Ye who would seek the key…that's getting old," Jinx said. "Ye who would seek the key, you are gifted. Okay…" She said, puzzled as she stepped in. In this room were three doors, one on each wall.

"Great. Eh… Door number two, I guess," She said to herself, walking over and opening it.

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Sam stood, armed and armored, mounted upon the steed that had called out to her heart when she entered the stable. Conquest looked at her in her green chain-mail cloak, with her raven-bearing shield and two weapons sitting firmly on her person.

"Happy?" Conquest asked.

Sam grinned. "Oh yeah. So when do we go down?" She asked, eager to return to her mortal form and reunite with her friends.

"Soon. I want you to meet the remaining Horsemen first. Come," He told her, mounting his own horse and beckoning her. Together, the pair rode through a series of doors, finally stopping in a palace-like building. Galloping through the gates, the horses stopped dead, for good reason.

"What the?!" Conquest cried. The palace had changed, demons patrolling the castle. From what they could see, the inside had been completely reformed, with black walls and red floors. Sam looked over, eyes wide and mouth open.

"We have to get those keys. Now. You guys made those trials. Can we circumvent them somehow? Make them all done already?" She asked.

"Sadly, no. However, the trials only allow one person. You are no mere person; rather, you will be more than just mortal if you go back down, for a period of time. You will not be immortal, but you should be able to get into the trial areas and help. Hurry!" He said. With that, he closed his eyes, and Sam felt a strange sensation in her eyes. Closing them, she clenched her fist.

"Alright! Let's do this!" She called, opening her eyes to find herself back in the volcano atop Bravery, her steed.


	11. The Calvary Arrives!

-1

"I hope she's doing alright," Starfire said worriedly. She looked up and gasped, smiling for the first time in a while.

"Robin!" She cried, running forward and embracing him. He smiled, hugged her back, and the two released. His smile grew as he withdrew the key from his belt.

"Awesome. We're waiting for Sophia to get out of there with that key," Cyborg explained. Starfire was the only one to pick up on the extra concern in his voice, and therefore was the only one that had to hide a small smile.

"Yeah. She's been in there a while. I'm starting to worry a bit, honestly," Terra added. They made small talk for a few minutes, Robin describing the trials he went through, and what Atlantis looked like. Finally, they went back to their previous activity of waiting.

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"Ye who would seek the key, you will be tested. Straightforward," Sophia commented as she stepped through. As soon as she entered, a booming voice spoke.

"**WHAT IS YOUR FRIEND STARFIRE'S TRUE NAME?" ** It spoke. She jumped at the sound, then absorbed the question. _This is the test? Questions about the Titans? _She chuckled slightly.

"That would be Koriand'r," She replied. On the other side of the room, Sophia noticed that one of the six bars that had been blocking the next door had lifted.

"**WHAT DISEASE DID GARFIELD LOGAN USED TO POSESS?" **She laughed again.

"Too easy. Sakutia," She said. Another bar lifted.

"**WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE ENTITY WHO TOOK THE TITANS AS TROPHIES?"**

"He only took four, and it was Atlas," She rolled her eyes as the third bar was raised.

"**WHO IS ROY HARPER?"**

Sophia thought on this. The name was familiar, but she couldn't place it. She swore, unable to put a face to the name. "Do I get a hint?" She asked hopefully. No answer. She swore again. "Roy Harper….Roy…Harper….Harper…Roy Harper…" She muttered, pacing. "What happens if I answer incorrectly?" She asked.

"**YOU WILL BE DESTROYED,"** The voice said simply.

"Well. No pressure then," Sophia said dryly, reminiscent of Raven herself. She shook her head, lost in thought.

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"Shit!" Jinx exclaimed. She had opened the door on her right, only to almost be drawn in by a tentacle from an unknown being behind the door. Instinctively, she fired luck shots at the door, causing the room behind it to collapse. Smacking her forehead, she sighed.

"You are gifted… Gifted to destroy, yeah. Don't see that helping, though," She muttered as she reached forward and opened the door across from the one she had come from.

"…Who the fuck are you?" Jinx wondered as a midget wearing Robin's uniform flew out.

"I'm Larry! I'm just here to help! Go on! Through the door!" He cried, drenching the sorceress in spit. A tic started on her forehead as she wiped herself off.

"You're joking. A midget, retarded Robin. As if he didn't have enough skill in that department already," She muttered. Then she stopped. "Wait. How did you get in here? You…you're another illusion!" She swiped at him, and unexpectedly connected.

"Okay, unfortunately for me, you are real. How'd you get in?" She wondered.

"Magic finger. I bent the rules of the trials. Let me get in with you," He said happily, flying behind her. Pursing her lips, Jinx rubbed her temples.

"So why can't you just bend the rules so that the next room has the key?" She asked. Larry shrugged.

"Something's guarding this place against my finger. Something powerful enough to stop my rule-bending power. I tried," He said. Jinx sighed, walking along the hall.

"Alright, fine. Let's see. 'Ye who would seek the key, a fight awaits.' Alright, cool. I've been itching to brawl," She said happily, pushing the door open. Looking around, she saw something unexpected.

"Huh?" She said eloquently. Before her stood the Teen Titans and Titans East, all poised to strike.

"So not fair!" She protested. And that was the last thing she said before being overtaken by the fighters. Try as she might, she couldn't ward them off. She was simply beaten. Pulverized. Finally, she was thrown against a wall, cornered, bruised and scared.

Larry began to frantically think. How could he help? He couldn't protect her, he wasn't exactly a fighter. _Robin would be able to think of something… Come on! Think! Oh! _The light bulb came on as he thought. His finger glowing, he disappeared.

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Argent sighed. "Wally West, get your super-speed ass down here! It's your turn to do dishes, and I know you know it," She yelled. Upstairs, Kid Flash grinned. He knew it, alright. But tormenting Argent by waiting till the last second to do everything was so much fun, considering that he actually _could _do everything at the last second.

"I'll get them in a bit!" He called back down. He grinned again as he heard Argent growl.

"You don't want me to come up there," The goth warned him.

Kid Flash just rolled his eyes. She never carried out her threats, in part because she was unable to actually catch the slacker long enough to do such.

"Ah, give him a break. He'll get 'em done. Always does. Don't get your skirt in a twist," Herald commented as he entered the kitchen, eyeing the refrigerator.

"_You _I can catch," She told the dimension-manipulator dangerously. He just shrugged and began to shuffle through the leftovers of the previous night.

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"Yaaah!" Kid Flash yelped in shock as a portal appeared over his bed. Out of it burst a tiny replica of Robin, one of his index fingers glowing.

"Kid Flash, right? Jinx is in trouble! C'mon!" He said, motioning to the portal. Wally raised an eyebrow.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you mean by 'danger?'" He asked.

"She's getting beaten up by a bunch of illusions. It's a long story. I'm Larry, Robin from a different dimension. Come on!" He cried again, tugging on Wally's arm.

"Oooookay. Stranger things have happened, I guess," The speedster said. Shrugging, he dove into the portal, Larry hot on his heels.

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"Roy…Harper…Good Azar!" Sophia muttered. She went through all of the real names of the Titans. _Richard Grayson, Garfield Logan, Rachel Roth, Koriand'r, and Victor Stone… Oh, Tara Markov, too… But Roy Harper? Ugh…Robin would know this…Robin…Robin… OH! _She grinned as she pictured Robin's face, the mask standing out. Then Robin's face faded out, fading into…

"Roy Harper is know to both the Teen Titans and Titans East as Speedy the archer," She finally cried proudly. Another bar lifted.

"**WHERE IS TARA MARKOV ORIGINALLY FROM?"**

Sophia smiled. _Thank Azar she was in Nevermore so long, She thought. _"The land of Markovia," She stated. Another bar lifted. _One more! _She said to herself triumphantly.

"**IS YOUR SISTER SAMANTHA DEAD?" **The voice boomed. Sophia stood, shocked.

"Er….."

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"Let's ride!" Sam kicked the horse, riding forward to the volcano. She had already been attacked by two different armies of Bloods and demons, and dispatched them with ease. "You wait here!" Sam told Bravery as they came to a halt at the foot of the stone stairs Terra had created.

Sam had no need for those, of course. Or at least, that's what she thought until she remembered about not having her powers. Rolling her eyes, she quickly scaled the volcano, leaping down onto the narrow ledge and running as fast as her legs could carry her.

Her eyes shone as she saw her friends in the distance. She grinned as she noticed the open door, increasing her speed further.

"Hi and bye!" She yelled as she ran past, leaving all of the others goggling

"Was that…?" Terra trailed off.

"Couldn't have been. She died, girl," Cyborg shook his head.

"Who the hell else wears that shade of green and goes running head-first into a place that she doesn't know the first thing about?" Carrie responded rhetorically.

"Dude, it just ain't possible! She fried in lava!" Cyborg said bluntly, causing an uneasy silence from all except Carrie.

"You also said that about Slade. And we're dealing with some serious weirdness here. Maybe she managed to survive somehow. I just know that whoever that was looked, sounded and acted a hell of a lot like Sam," She said with a shrug. Cyborg just frowned.

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Sam rushed through the first three rooms, skidding to a halt in front of the fourth. "Ye who holds the key, you shall be tested," She read. Shrugging, she flung the door open.

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"She's…." Sophia was interrupted by the door behind her opening with a sudden force. Spinning around, Sophia's eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

"What is this, some sort of trick to get me to say the wrong answer? You think you can make me say no by creating an illusion of her? She has to be a fa-" Sam cut across her.

"Not the time, Sophie. I'm not dead, She said. And, unwittingly, she had answered the final question. The final bar raised, unlocking the door.

Sophia stared. "No" had been the right answer. Which meant… The girl ran forward, standing directly in front of Sam.

"Is it really…you?" She asked, looking Sam up and down for any telltale sign, anything strange.

"In the quasi-mortal flesh," Sam replied with a smile. Sophia's eyes shone with tears, and the former emotion flung herself forward, face buried in her "sister's" shoulder.

"I am so sorry…," Sophia managed out, images of Sam falling, herself chasing the fated girl and failing to save her.

Sam let her go for a minute or so before taking Sophia by the shoulders and putting some space between the two. Wiping her eyes, Sophia took a couple deep breaths, looking Sam over and noting the wardrobe change.

"What…why do you have chain mail on?"" Sophia inquired after regaining her composure.

"Long story, I'll tell you in a bit. We need to get ahold of that key. One more trial left, girlfriend. Let's take it down and get the hell out of this volcano," The somewhat-mortal girl suggested. Sophia smiled and nodded, and together they rushed through the door.

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Aqualad cocked his fist, preparing to finish Jinx. The sorceress struggled in Bumblebee's grip, but she was getting nowhere. She closed her eyes and waited for the end.

Unseen to her, a vortex had appeared in the room. Out of it flew Larry and tumbled Kid Flash. Quickly seeing what was about to happen, Wally raced forward just as the Key-Aqualad swung.

When the blow didn't come, Jinx opened her eyes. Aqualad's fist had been caught by a very familiar red glove. That same red glove whirled Aqualad around, knocking the Key-Titan into Jinx's captor, knocking Jinx to the ground in the process.

Looking up, Jinx found the cocky grin and extended hand she had expected. Taking his hand, she picked herself up and turned to look at the remaining challengers. Turning to Wally, she shook her head.

"You never cease to amaze me. I don't know how you got in here, or even how you knew I was here. Together?" She said. Kid Flash nodded. With that, he sped off, laying the law down on anyone in sight while Jinx used her aerobatic training to elegantly dodge the various attack thrown at her and throw a few blasts here and there.

A minute later, the Key-Titans were history and the next door opened. Jinx looked at Wally. "How?" She asked. The boy jerked his thumb at Larry, who was currently performing an airborne victory dance.

"He came busting into my room through a vortex, telling me you're in danger. I was already getting yelled at by Argent, so I saw no reason not to follow the little guy," He said. Jinx nodded and turned to Larry.

"Well, I still don't know what the heck you are, but thanks for the save, Larry," Jinx told the Robin-like midget.

"Yay! I did something right for once!" He cried, spit flying again. Sighing, the pair pushed through the next door.

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"Ye who would seek the key, don't fall," Sam read. "Great," She added as they entered the room.

"Holy shit." Sam stated plainly. Spikes filled the ground and ceiling, while razor blades decorated the walls. This continued down a long, straight passage, at the other end of which lay the key.

"I'll go. I can fly," Sophia said, but Sam shook her head.

"I get the feeling your powers won't work here. They wouldn't make it that east. The Horsemen, I mean. However… Hm. Allow me," She said. And, placing all of her faith in her own abilities, she leapt into the air. Sophia gasped as Sam fell towards the spikes.

Sam smiled. Drawing her sword, she thrust it down, wedging it between the spikes. Using momentum, she pushed off, making sure to take the weapon back with her. Next, she stabbed the sword into the right wall, jumping off of the blade and again grabbing it as she flew again. Then, stabbing the sword into the ceiling, she swung off the handle, and finally threw her shield down to serve as a platform for her to land on. One more jump off the shield put her on safe ground.

The instant she landed, the spikes and blades receded, leaving Sam's accessories laying on the ground. The girl grabbed the key and walked calmly back across, retrieving her arms as she went. "Ready?" She asked Sophia, who was currently gawking at her.

"How the… How did you do that?!" Sophia cried incredulously. Sam shrugged.

"Eh. When you're an emotion that fights a lot, you tend to get good with stuff like that, y'know? Anyway, let's go." And with that, the emerald set into the key shone, and the pair were warped to the front door.

"So, to Mount Everest?" Sam suggested calmly to everyone as she and Sophia emerged.


	12. A New Emotion

-1

"What…? It WAS you!" Robin cried as Sam emerged with Sophia in tow. She smiled, nodding. Seeing the questioning yet elated expressions surrounding her, she began to explain.

"Long story short, I didn't die when I died. I wound up with Conquest, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He suited me up like this," She said, motioning to her armor and weaponry. "He said that the Horsemen are readying themselves for battle. But…when we went to see the other Horsemen, their base had been overtaken by demons. I came back to expedite the process of finding the keys," She finished.

"Do you guys get into freaky crap like this on a regular basis, or is this just a running thing with Raven?" Drake asked, half annoyed, half amused. Robin smiled.

"A little of both, really," Robin said, turning to Sam. "Yes, to Mount Everest. Once we find the rest of the group, we can snag that final key and get to the Siphon. Then… well, I just hope it works," He said.

Sophia nodded. "Sam, your powers aren't working, are they? Your aura is different," She noted. Sam nodded in confirmation. "In that case, prepare yourself for teleportation," Sophia said. Focusing, she found Raven, and the Titans surrounding her melded with the shadows to warp.

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"Ye who would seek the key, proceed if you can," Wally read. Turning to Jinx, she shrugged.

"All of these things have said something like that," She told him as they made their way into the room. The room seemed normal, the floor, walls and ceilings encrusted with valuable materials. However, there was no other door.

"Er…How're we supposed to go further?" Jinx wondered.

"Let me try!" Larry cried excitedly. Before either Titan could protest, he pointed his finger at the opposite side of the room. Although no door appeared, the room began to rumble.

"Oops…" He said.

"What'd you do?!" Wally yelled. Larry shrunk away.

"I honestly have no idea," He said baldly. Jinx had to restrain her boyfriend to stop him from choking the alter-ego.

The room continued to shake, and the jewels began to fall from the ceiling and walls. Only Wally's speed allowed them to avoid harm from the falling objects. Finally, after every piece of jewelry, gold and silver had left the walls and ceiling, the room steadied.

"Great," Jinx muttered. Frowning, she looked around, finally noting a strange discoloration in the wall on the left. Walk over, she studied it.

"Wally, Larry, over here. He may have actually helped. This coloration… it's different. I don't think that's accidental," She mused.

Wally took a look. "Looks like normal wear and tear to me. Look, we need to seriously find a way ou-" Jinx winced as Kid Flash tried to lean on the wall, and instead fell _through _said wall.

"You were saying?" Jinx arched an eyebrow as she helped the speedster up. Kid Flash just sighed. Now both eyebrows were raised. "What?" She asked.

"I hate when you're right. Then again, that's not a common occurrence, so…" He trailed off with a smirk. Jinx rolled her eyes.

"Which do you hear more often in a day: your name, or 'shut up?'" She asked him as the pair walked through the "wall" and entered the next hallway.

"Eh, probably about 50/50," He answered truthfully.

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"Jinx went in?" Robin asked, surprised. Raven nodded.

"Yeah. We decided that I couldn't go because I have the most powerful Gem in my skull," She replied, her tone dry as a bone. Then the turned to look at Sam again. Raven had practically killed the girl in a hug when Sam had shown up with the others. Beast Boy and the others hadn't been too far behind, either.

"Damnit. She needs to hurry her ass up before mine freezes off," Carrie complained, hugging herself for warmth.

Raven rolled her eyes. "So the Horsemen's castle has been overtaken?" She recapped. Sam nodded. "Swell. Where are the other three Horsemen?" She asked.

"Conquest went to find them while I came back down here," Sam replied, shrugging.

"That worries me," Syrnium said. "The Horsemen should not have to be found. Why they aren't already present…" She trailed off.

"Great. So the Horsemen might be screwed. Awesome. Meanwhile, our main stronghold on the higher plane is infiltrated. Any other bad news you want to give us?" Beast Boy said in an unexpectedly sarcastic tone.

Syrnium smiled slightly. "No, I don't believe so. Not for the moment, anyway," She replied. Then she jumped as Drake shot straight up.

"We need to get her out. Now. Any way to get in there?" The thief asked Syrnium suddenly.

"Sam could get in. But she is close to retrieving the final Gem Key, Drake. Why would we want her out?" She asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Because it's a trap," He said grimly. Seeing the confused faces around him, he sighed. "Do you people have no common sense? Slade knows about the Siphon. That means he knows about the keys," He said.

"So?" Terra asked, still lost.

"He's letting us get these things. Something's wrong. I don't think he planned on you guys passing your trials. In fact, Sam's arrival is the only reason Sophia came back out. And… Jinx is in trouble," He said simply.

Understanding dawned upon Syrnium. "He's using the keys as bait… Sam. You have to go get Jinx. Go!" She told the "emotion." The girl nodded and headed for the door.

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"There's no writing on this door," Wally noted. Shrugging, he pushed through. And gaped in shock at what he saw.

"Good of you to come. I assume you're looking for this?" Slade asked with a smirk, holding the Gem Key in his hand. "They'll do you no good now anyway. The Siphon is no more. That's something you'll have in common soon," He added, leaping at Jinx.

The mage leaped at the last second to dodge the villain's blow, firing a blast of magic at him as she did so. Growling, Slade set his sights on Kid Flash, who just smirked at him. Slade smiled and activated the gem he believe to be Murderous, then swung at the boy.

Wally ducked, but barely managed to block a barrage of blows that followed,. Finally, Slade connected, sending his opponent flying and eliciting a scream from Jinx, who rushed to her boyfriend's side.

Slade smiled, advancing, ready to deliver the final blow. But he had forgotten one thing: there were three fighters in the room, and he had only taken down two.

Larry had taken a position behind Slade, looking for a chance to do something, anything. Finally, he saw his moment. Flying up, he drew back and hit Slade square in the back of his head. The masked man swung around, looking for the source of the blow, only to have the same thing happen again.

"What the hell?!" He growled, spinning again, only to be hit in the head again.

Jinx smiled as she helped Wally up, unable to join the fight without abandoning him. Instead, she just watched as the tiny Robin replica continued to smack Slade around. Suddenly, the fight turned ugly as Larry got another bright idea.

Making sure to stay behind Slade, he rummaged through he belt until he found what he was looking for: his Titan Communicator. Opening it, he grinned. "Titans, trouble! Go!" He cried through it. Jinx's eyes widened. Larry was Robin from a different dimension. It had never occurred to her that the Titans might've existed in that dimension.

And sure enough, a vortex exploded open, tiny clones of Raven, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy flying out through it. And together, they waged a full-scale attack on Slade.

"What in God's name?!" He exclaimed as he attempted to shield himself from Starbolts, a midget pterodactyl, sonic cannon fire, shots of black energy and Larry's continued smacking. Finally, he screamed in fury and disappeared, taking the Key with him.

"Good work, Titans!" Larry said cheerfully. And oddly enough, the other Titans just…vanished. Larry turned to Jinx in a victory pose, then saw the confused look on her face.

"I can bend reality, remember? In simple terms, I made those other Titans up," He said. Wally, finally standing, shook his head to clear it.

"Alright, so we just did all that for nothing but a fruitless fight? Wonderful. Let's get out of here," He said, exasperated. With that, he grabbed Jinx and Larry, speeding off back the way they came.

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Sam had just reached the second door when it blew open and a yellow-pink blur flashed by. "Er…" She said to herself, following it out.

"Kid Flash? What're you doing he…._Larry_?!" Robin exclaimed in disbelief once everyone was outside. "Where the hell did you two show up from?" The Boy Wonder asked, bewildered.

"Jinx got caught in a bad fight in there, and Larry had shown up to help her. He came and got me when he figured she needed help," Wally explained. Then he filled them in on what had happened.

When he was finished, Drake smirked smugly in a "told you so" way. "Damn!" Syrnium swore, catching everyone off guard. "Sorry. It's just… Slade's destroyed the Siphon, overtaken our base, and has some of the Gems to boot. I just don't see a way to stop him," She explained.

Beast Boy smiled. "We don't necessarily have to see the way. Like Arella said, hope always exists. There has to be a way to stop him. Good will always prevail, remember?" He said, turning to Sophia as he finished. She smiled and nodded.

"So, who's for going back to the Tower? I claim the shower first," Carrie chimed in.

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"We still have the most powerful Gem there is. Slade's eliminated the Siphon, or so he says. Either way, he has the last key, which effectively eliminates the Siphon anyway. The Four Horsemen are, for the moment, unavailable, and the castle has been overthrown," Syrnium summarized, wearing a path in the of the Tower's common room.

"Hey, at least we have Sam back," Robin reminded them. This made Syrnium smile slightly. It was a small victory, but they did indeed have their friend back from the "dead."

"Maybe we should head back to the Amazon?" Beast Boy suggested. Drake shook his head.

"You already searched there and found him. He won't go back to a known location," He said.

"Great. Just great. So we have no idea of where our opponent is, nor do we know what progress he's made. Meanwhile, we have the strongest weapon in this little game, but we can't use it unless we cut Raven's head open like a watermelon. Am I missing anything?" Terra asked dryly. Everyone shuddered at her last comment.

Beast Boy's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Alright, question. When you sacrificed yourself to end the world, you said 'The gem was born of evil's fire.' What's that mean?" He asked Raven directly. Knowledge responded.

"The gem, the one we now know as the Gem of Murder, was subjected to Trigon's power. It was shaped, reborn in order to impregnate the Gem with his own power. Hence, 'evil's fire,'" She explained.

Beast Boy smiled. "Then we have a way to fight back. Angella," He indicated the girl, dressed in a red tank top and matching pants, "was once Rage, the emotion influenced by Trigon directly. Which means that her powers are the same as that Gem's. They're one and the same. We have the Gem of Murder's power to use without any drawbacks," He finished excitedly.

Angella's mouth opened slightly as she looked down at her hands. He was right. Her powers were indeed linked to the Gem. Then her face fell as she hung her head, realization hitting her.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, noticing the sudden change in her behavior. Suddenly, her head jerked up, her eyes, all four of them, red. Everyone leapt back, and Raven clutched her forehead as the gem on her head began to shine brightly.

"What is happening?!" Starfire cried. Raven cried out, falling to her knees as Angella looked around at the Titans hungrily.

"Murder…I must…Murder…" She whispered, sounding like a woman possessed. Without warning, she leapt forward and grabbed Beast Boy by the neck, choking the changeling.

"NO!" Sam roared. Reaching to her hip, she wrenched the dagger out and slashed at her fellow emotion, leaving a gash down the girl's back. She roared in pain and spun, connecting with a powerful punch as she did. Sam flew across the room and hit the wall, hard.

"TITANS, GO!" Robin cried. He had no idea what was going on, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let his team…no…his _family_, be slaughtered. Reaching into his belt, he withdrew a bladed Birdarang and launched it at Angella, who to his shock caught it. Smirking, she whipped around and buried the weapon deep into Beast Boy's left shoulder, causing the boy to yell in pain.

It was madness. The battle should have been over in a flash; Kid Flash, Jinx, Raven, Beast Boy, Robin, Starfire, Terra, Syrnium, Larry and the emotions vs. one Raven clone. But rather, Angella was having none of it. Finally, the two sides separated, Starfire holding on to Garfield and Syrnium taking Raven under the arms.

"What do you think you're doing, Angella?!" Sam yelled.

Angella smirked, a sad, bitter expression. "Angella…I am no longer Angella. Garfield was right. I am not Angella. My name…is Murder," She whispered, launching herself at the Titans.


	13. Murder, She Wrote

-1

The battle raged. Every time they would manage to strike an injury to Angella, she would simply heal it up. Robin's Birdarang Sword was out, Syrnium and Sam wielding their respective weapons. Starfire's Starbolts were proving ineffective, as was Cyborg's sonic cannon and Terra's various rocks and stones. Raven and Beast Boy had been rushed out of the Tower by Kid Flash, and Jinx was having no better a time with her magic as anyone else.

Even the emotions couldn't get a shot in as Angella viciously swung and kicked, smiting any and all comers. She smirked, watching how helpless her "friends" were against her new powers. She felt it growing inside of her- the influence of the Gem, the thirst for blood welling inside of her. Her face twisted into a feral, evil grin.

Lilith never knew what hit her. Nor did Rose or Roth. Angella ripped Robin's sword out of his hands and began to run the other emotions through with it. One by one they fell. First Lilith. Rose and Roth couldn't defend themselves either, nor could Mary or Carrie.

"NO!" Robin cried as he tried to interfere. He couldn't get close enough. Angella's black shield prevented him, or anyone else for that matter, to touch her. Finally it came down to Angella versus the six Titan, Larry, Jinx, Sam and Sophia.

Angella set eyes on Sophia and smirked as she charged. She raised the sword, readying a fatal blow, swinging down towards her fellow clone. Sophia tried to raise a shield, but for some reason the Gem of Murder had disabled her powers. Her eyes widened, then shut as she awaited the inevitable.

CLINK!

Sophia opened her eyes. Metal had hit metal. The metal of the sword had hit the metal of Cyborg's left arm, to be exact. The bionic man trembled with what could only be pure rage.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!!" He roared, causing everyone to jump. With a mighty shove, he forced Angella back, putting her on her ass. Sophia could hear Cyborg's heavy breathing, and saw his arms shifting, rewiring, vibrating with rage. And she knew what he was doing.

"Cyborg, no!" She cried. Too late. Both of Cyborg's arms had wired themselves into sonic cannons, and his missile launchers had emerged, all aimed point-blank at the red-clad girl before him.

"Murder this," He hissed. And before anyone could stop him, he fired everything he had. The flash blinded everyone temporarily, causing the Titans to shield their eyes. When the effect had worn off, all they could see was a burnt, black spot on the floor and smoke rising into the air.

Cyborg turned to Sophia, his face a portrait of concern. "Are you alright? Did she hit you?" He asked, rushing to her side.

Sophia was too dumbfounded to speak. He had just flat-out vaporized someone…just to protect her. Not injured. Not killed. _Vaporized_.

"Cyborg…" Robin trailed off, also stunned. And through all this, the entire picture had started to sink in. The bodies of the emotions were strewn about, pierced and bleeding. There was no saving them.

"Where're Raven, BB and Wally at?" Cyborg asked roughly. Right on cue, Wally burst in through the doors with the two Titans on his heels. One good look around the place put looks of utter horror on their faces, their breath caught in their throat.

"What the HELL happened?!" Raven half demanded, half cried.

"Angella…I think the Gem's Evil God overpowered her. The Gods are gaining strength, apparently. Angella began to attack us. And… she went on a spree, killing off most of your physically-embodied former emotions. Sam and Sophia are the only ones left," Syrnium explained shakily.

"And Angella? Where's she?" Beast Boy asked.

"Er…" Syrnium couldn't say it, so she looked away.

"Cyborg kind of…well…" Robin also trailed off.

"I wiped her out. She took every weapon I have from two feet away. Happy now?" Cyborg asked angrily. With that said, he stormed out of the room.

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_I killed someone…Oh, God. I killed her, _The full force of what he had done hit Cyborg like a ton of bricks as he stomped through the Tower. "I killed someone…" He whispered again, looking at his hands as though they were covered in blood. And, in a way, they were.

"Victor, wait," Cyborg froze, both at the familiar voice and the use of his name. Turning, he saw Sophia walking briskly towards him.

She didn't speak. In fact, she didn't pause at all. She walked straight up to him, grabbed him by his shoulders, and bent him down to her level so she could kiss him. Cyborg, caught off guard, took a moment to register what was happening before he responded in kind. When they pulled apart, both had a sheepish yet warm smile on their faces.

"Thank you," She said simply, looking up to him.

"For you, it was nothing Sophie. Are the other emotions…?" He wondered.

Sophia looked away, suddenly interested in the floor. "We…do not know. It is possible that they did as Sam did, and still exist. I cannot tell," She said softly, attempting to pull the philosophical punch. Now it was Cyborg that turned away.

"And Angella?" Cyborg questioned.

"We do not know. She went with the others when she left this plane, but… I don't know. She may or may not still exist some how, in some form," She finished. Cyborg's heart sank again.

"Cyborg, come. Berating yourself over a matter that cannot be reversed will be fruitless. The others are discussing a battle plan as we speak. Let us return," She said, placing her delicate hand into his relatively gigantic, metallic one. With a small smile, he took it.

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"Alright, so it boils down to this. Every time we find Slade, he disappears one way or the other. In other words, it's futile to track him down. So there's only one other option. And no, we're not going to hire an army of ninja hamsters to make a surprise attack," Robin added humorously, looking at Beast Boy. He smirked and reclined on the sofa.

"And that option is?" Raven questioned.

"We attack," Robin said simply. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, let me get this straight. We're going to attack him without finding him?" She asked, bemused.

"Heh. Not exactly. Larry here," He explained, indicating the floating kid, "can bend reality, remember? Well, he's gonna change the rules of the Gems a bit. He can't directly affect them, but he _can _tweak their properties through the use of the Gem of Murder," Robin finished with a grin.

"Robin, mixing the two powers is dangerous," Raven warned, but Robin held up a hand.

"Elerana says that she can mediate between the two, making it safe. Larry's gonna make it so that the Gems can only warp Slade two feet at a time. Once that's done, we launch a full-scale assault. Wally can easily follow Slade around and steal his Gems. In the mean time, we've got Conquest searching for the Horsemen, which shouldn't take much longer. Once that's done, and we have the Seven Gems, we can reclaim the Horsemen's stronghold and obliterate Trigon's final legacy," He said, finally pausing for a breath.

"Robin, it's still only what, nine, ten against his entire army? Wally won't have enough time to-" This time, Terra stopped Raven from protesting.

"Nah. We've got Titans South and East joining us. Plus Syrnium and Sam," She told the empath, causing Raven's brows to rise. That changed things.

"Alright, let's do this then," She nodded. Larry did a loop, eager to be of use.

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"Alright, Larry, touch the Gem," Elerana directed, her guidance relayed by Beast Boy. He was just about to do as such when the common room doors opened.

"Hey guys! You were gonna start without us!" Bumblebee mock-accused. Behind her came Speedy, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos.

"Yeah, really. Wait 'till the calvary arrives," Argent called from behind the group. Behind her came what was missing of Titans South: The Herald and Hotspot. Kid Flash and Jinx, being the other two members, waved as they entered the room.

"So brief us," Bumblebee said as she took a place on the couch next to Cyborg. Seeing this, Sophia walked calmly over to the same couch and planted herself firmly on his other side. Even though she and Cyborg hadn't "officially" gotten together, the message was clear, and Bumblebee received it as such.

Taking a moment to send a cheeky grin Cyborg's way, Robin proceeded to bring the Titans up to date on past and present events. By the time he was finished, most of them had their eyes wide open.

"Well. If you're all done chatting, can we get the hell on with this?" Elerana said, again via her vessel. Rolling his eyes, Robin nodded.

"Alright, here goes," Larry took a deep breath in and touched Raven's Gem, his finger glowing. As soon as he made contact, something unexpected happened. Larry literally sank into Raven, similar to how Jericho when he used his powers.

"What the heck?" Robin cried. Everyone watched the empath anxiously, awaiting a reaction. She shook her head a few times and blinked.

"Oops…" She said, her tone sounding nothing at all like Raven. Robin's eyes widened.

"Oh, shit," He said, realizing their mistake. Raven was closely linked to her chakra gem, which happened to be the Gem of Murder. So closely linked, in fact, that she had retained it despite a gender change and the addition of a new mind melding with her own at one point. She was part of it, and it her. Therefore…

Drake couldn't stifle a snicker. "Did what I think just happened happen?" He asked. Raven scratched the back of her head.

"Judging from the numerous obscenities and various words in other languages that are probably more obscenities, I think so. I am linked with the Gem, though. And with this close of a link… I'm working on it now, but there's a possibility that I can separate Raven's powers from the Gem," S/he said.

"And that's going to help us…?" Beast Boy probed.

"If I can separate Raven from her Gem, not only with her powers increase, but I can do anything I please with the Gem," He explained.

"And what exactly can you do with the Gem?" Sophia wondered, eyebrows raised, still taking in the fact that Raven was current under the control of a midget Robin-clone.

Raven grinned. "As we've ascertained, Murder is the most powerful of the Seven. And as Mary said, the Gems are linked. Long story short, I can do some serious damage in the Gem's powers with this baby. But if I do it with Raven still linked to it…well, you can imagine," He said.

"Well, get working. The sooner you can do that, the sooner you can get out of there," Robin replied. Raven winced.

"Well… I'm not quite certain on how to do that. Oops…" He said sheepishly. Everyone's mouths hung open.

"You don't know how to get out of Raven's head?!" Bumblebee cried, speaking for everyone.

"Er…no," He stated.

"Shit." Sam said. Raven's eyes widened.

"Beast Boy, your girlfriend has a very good imagination when it comes to painful ways to kill someone. Just a warning. Anyway, this will take a while, and being alone will be helpful," "Raven said before taking a meditative pose and closing her eyes.

Nodding, the Titans left the room.

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Cyborg studied himself in the full-body mirror in his room. "Not a murderer…" He mumbled, looking at his reflection as if never having seen it before. He looked to his right, where he had taken Angella's Raven robe and belt and placed them on a display, He had placed the sword that marked him as Champion of Serasim's tribe in the mannequin's right hand, the shield in its left as a sort of grave.

Looking back at himself, he sighed. "She's right. No sense in consuming yourself about what's irreversible," He told his reflection. Again he returned his attention to Angella's tribute stand. It reminded him of Terra's "grave."

Walking up to it, a tear ran from his human eye. He reached up to adjust the cloak, as it wasn't situated quite right. As he did so, the cloak began to glow, shining at him. The glow concentrated where the girl's face would have been had she been in the cloak, and it proceeded to hit Cyborg square in the chest, blasting him into the opposite wall.

Grunting in pain, he stood, ready to defend himself. No attack came, but he suddenly realized that his circuitry was being…changed. Not tampered with, but something was happening. Black energy crackled up and down his body, bringing no pain but rather a sense of power.

When the energy finally faded, his eyes widened. His normally blue tech had turned a dark red. Shocked, he brought his cannon up instinctively. Again, a change was evident; the glow was black rather than the glowing blue. "I…is this…?" He wondered.

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Cyborg rushed to find Sophia. Problem was, he didn't find her before someone else found him. Starfire's eyes widened at the sight. "Cyborg!" She gasped. He swore under his breath, having hoped not to let anyone see him like this until he could figure it out with Sophia.

"Star, I need to find Sophia. Please don't tell anyone you saw me. Please," He asked. She hesitated, then finally nodded. He smiled and continued running.

Finally, he ran into Sophia. Literally. "Victor, what's the- Never mind, no need to finish that question," She said, picking herself up and magically fixing her broken glasses.

Cyborg explained the event that had taken place. After listening and nodding, Sophia mulled it over for several moments before coming to a conclusion.

"Angella's essence has combined with your circuits. This reinforces my opinion that Angella still exists in some manner. Your technology has been infused with Azarathian wavelength frequencies. Longer story short, your abilities have merged with hers," She explained. Cyborg's mouth was open slightly.

"So she lives in me now?" He asked.

She nodded, and he smiled.


	14. Preparing For War

-1

"Why did he do it?" Robin wondered aloud to himself, not realizing Beast Boy standing behind him in the kitchen.

"Why did who do what?" The changeling asked, opening up one of the cabinets to grab a mug. Robin sighed, taking a seat at the table and resting his head in his hands.

"Slade. He helped us lay Trigon to a permanent rest, worked with us the entire time, and then he just suddenly turns around on us. I don't understand. I was just beginning to really feel proud of myself for having converted him, too…That's partially why I snapped on you when you acted on your instinct in the Amazon," Robin replied.

"Some people just don't change, man. I mean, seriously. Some people are always going to be good, and some people are always going to be after nothing less than pain and suffering for others. It's a war that'll never end, good versus evil," Beast Boy said wisely.

"It's seriously going to have to be explained to me just exactly when and how you became so sage and all," Robin said, shaking his head and allowing a smile to grace his features.

"It definitely had something to do with me getting together with Raven," Beast Boy said with a laugh. He began to pour himself some milk (Raven had convinced him to consume dairy, because he needed it and dairy products are harmless to produce) when Drake walked in.

"Larry's done, and he made his way out of Raven," He informed the two casually. They both nodded, now thinking on the imminent battle.

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"Are we really prepared for this?" Raven asked herself, staring in the bathroom mirror at her chakra gem. She sighed, momentarily closing her eyes. Opening them, she saw Sophia's silhouette framed in the door.

"Anything profound?" The former emotion asked, leaning on the doorframe. Raven shook her head.

"Not really. Just worry. I hope we're able to truly fight and win. I mean, he has a full army, as well as what, three Gems? Including a lesser Murder gem? Not to mention the other emotions…all gone, except you and Sam. The Horsemen are MIA, which is definitely bad. So…" Raven trailed off.

"Good always prevails over evil," She said simply, quoting herself, before smiling and leaving Raven to her thoughts.

_Or so we hope, _She thought.

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"Talk about a makeover… Wait, what?" Cyborg cried as he checked himself out in the bathroom mirror. All of a sudden, his tech had returned to its natural color. He wired his sonic cannon and saw that it was, indeed, sonic once more. "Why? What the hell happened?" He cried. Rushing to his room, he looked to the red cloaked mannequin. Nothing was different. The same cold gaze emanated from its eyes, and it hadn't moved.

Cyborg growled. For some reason, he had just lost the last bit of connection that he had felt with Angella. Now all he had left was her cloak. It was then that he noticed Sophia in his doorway.

"The power has left you," She stated the obvious. Then she smiled. "I thought that might happen," She added. Cyborg looked at her, surprised, confused, slightly angered.

"And you didn't tell me? Why? Why did I lose it? What happened?" He began to fling questions at the girl. She held up a hand to silence him.

"That was not Angella's power you absorbed, Victor. That was the…residue, I suppose, of the Murder powers. Your circuits recognized that power as a threat that could overtake you, and expunged it from your systems. In short, your cybernetics were looking out for you," She said with a smile.

"So… Angella might be dead then?" Cyborg asked, downcast.

"I will not lie to you. There is a chance that you may have completely destroyed her. But there is no time to berate yourself. We have work to do. We have Angella's legacy to uphold. Come on," She told him. With that, the pair exited the room.

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"Alright, we've got a lock on Slade's new position," Robin said, pointing up to the holographic map on the common room screen. A red area indicated their target. "The plan is simple. Slade suspects nothing. He doesn't know about the fake Gem, nor about the tampering we've done with the real one. We have the element of surprise, and we're going to use it," He explained with a smile.

Drake stood up. "Wait a sec, Robin. Slade's a tough son of a bitch to surprise. He may not know what's going on, but he'll adapt quickly. We'll have to act quickly, before he can figure out what's happening, because once he does he'll just pull some other trick," He said.

"We have Wally," Jinx countered with an amused smirk. Said speedster gave a thumbs up and his usual grin. Then the alarm sounded. Robin flew over to the computer, typing and looking at the screen in horror.

"We've got a breach in Raven's room!" He cried before hauling ass towards the door. He was about to open the door when Kid Flash zoomed ahead, blocking him.

"Are you seriously that stupid? It's a distraction, a trap, man. Don't go for Raven's room. Go to the storage area where the Gems are," He advised, opening the door. Robin nodded.

"Good thinking, Wally," He said, running out the door. The others followed close behind as fast as they could.

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"Oh. Shit." Drake stated when they had gotten to the storage room. The place had been ripped apart by a supremely powerful force. Wires sparked, and ceiling bits littered the floor.

"The Gems!" Starfire gasped. In truth, however, it was not the Gems she was exclaiming about. Rather, it was the lack of said items that caused her to be alarmed.

"I repeat, with feeling: Oh. Shit." Drake said dryly. Robin punched the wall, managing to deal damage only to his gloved hand.

"He's got the Gems. All of them. That's game," He said, hanging his head. He had failed. He was supposed to be the leader of the very embodiment of justice, and he had allowed evil to acquire the most powerful weapons possible.

Drake shook his head in amazement, looking at Robin. When the Boy Wonder shot him a death glare of annoyance, he laughed.

"Wow. I can't believe this. You're just going to just give up? What, all out of genius ideas? Gonna just leave the world in Slade's hands without a fight?" Drake said with a smirk. Robin's lips curled into a snarl. _Reverse psychology for the win, _Drake thought.

"Not if I can help it!" Robin growled. Then his face softened. "But that's the thing…there's no way to help it," He said. Drake rolled his eyes.

"Wrong. For one thing, he doesn't have ALL the Gems. We've still got little miss Murder here," He said, putting his arm around Raven's shoulder. This earned him a smack from both Raven and Beast Boy. "For another, as long as we aren't dead, we still have a shot," Drake finished with a nod.

Robin closed his eyes. "You know, for being a sarcastic jackass, you sure are optimistic," He said. Drake grinned.

"I know," The thief replied.

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"Death! War? Pestilence!!" Conquest called as he rode, combing the heavens for his comrades. In the distance, he saw an unfamiliar orange horse galloping towards him. "What's this?" He asked himself, coming to a halt.

As the horse approached, he saw an orange cloak billowing in the wind, belonging to the rider. The horse soon reached Conquest, coming to a rest about three feet to his right. The rider jumped off.

"None of the above, but I'm better than nothing. I'm Carrie, a.k.a Rude," She told him, scratching her nose as she did so. Conquest's eyebrows shot up.

"You're…one of Raven's emotions! How did you end up here?" He almost stuttered. Carrie shrugged.

"Angella. She went psycho on us once we realized that she was connected the Gem of Murder. I guess it unlocked something in her, because she went from being the former Rage to killing most of us emotions, claiming she was Murder," She said. Conquest's mouth was now gathering flies. Or at least it would have been, if there were flies in heaven.

"Most? Who's left?" He asked.

"Sam and Sophia. Sam you already met. I hear you're looking for the Horsemen?" She told him. He nodded. "No luck?" She asked. He shook his head.

"It's quite worrying. The Horsemen shouldn't be this hard to find…" Conquest said, frowning.

"I can sense things. Maybe I can locate them," Carrie said, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were white. And suddenly, a black raven erupted around her and flew into the air. After a couple minutes, the bird disappeared, leaving the emotion on her hands and knees, breathing heavily.

"Shit," She gasped out. Conquest bent down to give her a hand up, pulling the girl to her feet.

"Well? Where are they?" He asked after she had a chance to recover. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Not good. They've been sealed inside the Gems, Conquest. You're the only free Horseman remaining," She told him, causing a look of fear to spread across his face. Then a cocky grin crossed her face.

"What are you so happy about?" Conquest asked, amazed.

"There's only one way to free the Horsemen. I can gather the other 'dead' emotions. Once I've got them, we're gonna have to get into the castle and whoop some ass," She told him. He smiled.

"Alright. Gather them and meet me in front of the gates," He told her. She nodded and took off.

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Angella sighed. "What the hell am I, some fairy-tale princess? Locked up in some damned tower, waiting for someone to get my ass out of here. If I had my powers… Fuckin' gem," She muttered to herself. She looked around her cell again. There had to be some way to escape. She was freaking Raven, in a sense. No way some demons kept her locked up.

She tried kicking the door, to no avail. Punching didn't work, either. She spent hours trying to break it down before giving up with a sigh.

It was only an hour later when she grinned, having come up with one last-ditch effort. "If my powers don't work…I'll have to use someone else's," She said. With that, she closed her eyes and focused. Images flashed through her head: Beast Boy blowing down Mad Mod's robots as a dinosaur when it grabbed Raven, utterly destroying Adonis when he tried to hurt her, The Beast as it fought Slade and Trigon's demons. And just as she had last time, she slid down into the shadows of the room.

And after a minute or two, she reemerged. But this time, it was different. She had went into her Beast form. With a roar, she ran at the door, slashing. With one swift move, the door fell down, cut into two clean pieces. Angella exploded out of the room, brutalizing the guards and rushing down the hallway leading into the main area of the castle. With a snarl, she burst down the stairs and into the courtyard. And promptly stopped dead.

_Oh, shit, _She thought. Facing her were roughly 100 Bloods.

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"Alright, Slade's in Japan, in a very remote area just outside of Tokyo. We've got our game plan. The Gems are weakened now. They're still powerful, but he'll have a far harder time using them. Wally, your role is to get those things away from him. The rest of us will keep the Bloods and demons off your back," Robin said, looking at Kid Flash. He nodded.

"Raven, can you teleport us that far?" Beast Boy asked. Raven frowned.

"Not alone, but if I can get Sophia, Sam, Syrnium and Jinx to support me, I think so," She said. The changeling nodded. Everyone looked to Robin, who blinked.

"What?" He asked, clearly bewildered.

"What's keeping you?" Cyborg asked.

"Huh? Oh," He said, rolling his eyes. "Titans, Go!"

"Much better," Raven commented.


	15. The Twin Towers

-1

"Alright, this is just plain gay," Angella commented, now back in human form. Facing her were over 100 armed Bloods. She narrowed her eyes. "Alright, Angella, focus. You can do this. You _have _to do this," She told herself as the army advanced. Then she remembered one of her former "employer's" rules for combat: do the unexpected. So, naturally, she rushed them. As she ran, she launched herself up and over the group, coming down in a diving jump kick. Connecting firmly with her target, she sprang off of the dead weight and hit another with a somersault kick to the face. Landing in a defensive stance, she looked around.

She was completely surrounded, and her enemies were closing in on her, tightening the circle. Her eyes darted around, trying and failing to keep track of their movements. She couldn't back up, nor could she advance without running into one of them. Only one option left. She closed her eyes. _Azar, receive my soul, because I'm about to get smashed, _She prayed. With that, She ran full-out at the Bloods in front of her, uttering a feral, terrifying roar as she did.

"Let's GO!" She yelled before flinging herself into them.

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"There it is," Conquest said. The Raven sisters looked to the castle, eyeing the bridge that they stood in front of. Dismounting the horses they had found themselves on when they regained…being…, they nodded and marched towards the castle, Conquest close behind.

"Halt! What is this?" The group was surprised as five demons suddenly erupted in front of the main entrance. "Ah! The final Horseman! And…whoever these insignificant worms are. Come, Conquest! Our leader wishes a personal…audience with you," One of them said with a sneering laugh. Things got ugly, fast, as the girls demolished their competition.

"So much for the welcome wagon," Carrie commented as they rushed into the main courtyard. Entering, they found what had to be at least 100 Bloods in what seemed to be some sort of circle, closing in on…something. Then they heard an utterly terrifying roar.

"The hell?!" Carrie yelped, jumping slightly. Everyone looked to Conquest. He nodded, and he, Rose, Roth, Lilith, Carrie, and even Marylyn ran forward and began to swing left and right at the final remains of their "father's" legacy.

Suddenly, one of them managed to trip Mary, allowing him to grab her by her neck and hold her up while another drew back to deliver a harsh blow. A harsh blow was indeed delivered. It wasn't for Mary, though. Angella appeared out of nowhere and dropped down, piggy-backing the demon and snapping his neck. Backflipping off, she shoved his body into Mary's other attacker, knocking him down so she could snap his neck too. Standing triumphantly, she spun back and offered her hand to Mary even as another demon rushed her.

Mary took her hand, eyes wide at the sight of angella, and promptly palm-heeled the Blood that had gotten around to Angella's six. Angella smirked. "Thanks. Looks like you got some fight in you after all, Timmy," She said, using her old nickname for her fellow former emotion.

"Not the time to chat," Mary replied, spinning and kicking down another demon. Angella nodded, and took off in search of more opponents to down.

Although the small Azarathian force was doing well, they were getting tired out from the battle. Finally, the two armies drew back. Forty or so Bloods remained, laughing at the sweating, bloodied, panting emotions and Horseman. Rose spat out a tooth, and Lilith wiped a mixture of demon blood and her own off of her cheek. Suddenly, Mary dropped to all fours before passing out, presumably from the number of blows she had taken.

Angella stood there, hellfire in her eyes and a snarl set in her face. Her fists clenched. Her heart burned with a furious, passionate hatred for these…things… that had hurt her sisters, and were probably hurting her friends down on Earth with each passing moment. She literally shook with rage, similar to Cyborg before he had demolished her. No, not her, her body possessed by Murder.

She felt fire in her hand, and lifted it quickly to look. It glowed with a black flame, causing her eyes to widen. Her powers had, somehow, returned to her. How or why she didn't know, but she didn't care. Hiding her hand behind her back, she limped calmly towards the remaining enemies and stood before them. They looked at her and pointed, laughing, commenting in a tongue that she didn't understand.

One of them jumped and attacked her. She smiled and brought her hand up, a burning black shield rising in its wake. Demon fist collided with Azarathian magic and the fist didn't do so hot. Instead, he was flung across the courtyard, slamming into the golden wall.

"Anyone else want to try that?" She asked calmly. The demons looked at her, blank, scared, confused. Angella leapt into the air, pointed her hands outwards, and unleashed a wall of black fire at them, defeating them almost instantaneously. With a small "humph," Angella turned back to several astonished faces.

"I used to be Rage, man. I guess I've still got part of that… I think this is temporary. I can't fly. That wasn't my power, but… We need to move, fast. Every frickin' demon in this castle knows we're here, and we can't afford to be in another battle," She said. Conquest nodded. Lifting Mary on his shoulder, he looked at the group. "I have to take her out of here. I'm sorry, but Mary can't be left here, nor can we risk getting into trouble with her in this condition," He told them. They all nodded, and he took off back for the bridge.

"Great. So it's what, 5 of us now? It just keeps getting mumber," Carrie muttered as they began running for the door that they hoped led the way to the main throne room, each favoring various injured areas. Angella frowned as they reached the door, unable to open it. Frustrated, she kicked it down, only to be faced with another small group of Blood guards.

"Like I said: Great," Carrie repeated.

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"Alright, join hands," Raven instructed. Jinx, Raven, Sophia, Sam and Syrnium each took one another's hands. All of them focused on the desired location and closed their eyes. Slowly, a circle of black-and-pink magic emerged from around the five girls and engulfed the Titans. Sinking into the ground, they found themselves arising in Japan.

"Good work," Robin told them with a smile. Raven took a moment to catch her breath and smiled. Then she closed her eyes again.

"This way," She told them, pinpointing Slade. It didn't take them long before they ran across his base, an extremely high-tech 5-story tower. "Well. This isn't inconspicuous at all," Raven commented. The group promptly introduced the automated front-door defenses to Starfire's star bolts and Robin's Birdarangs, then walked brazenly in.

"That was way too easy," Robin said, worried as they began to cautiously make there way through the building. A murmur of agreement spread across the group as they took a look around the room. "Over there," Robin pointed to what appeared to be an elevator.

"That's not big enough for all of us," Bumblebee stated the obvious. Indeed, the elevator looked as though it could hold maybe five people. Robin sighed. He would have to, again, pick teams. This time, though, his confidence was shaken by his previous experience with Sam.

"Alright… Beast Boy, Raven, Wally, Jinx and Sam, head on up. The rest of us will wait for it to come back down," He said after a moment's thought. Then, as if on cue, Bloods began to rise up from the floor. Robin sighed again.

"Go! We'll meet you later!" Robin shouted. The five Titans nodded and ran for the doors. Robin turned to face the nearest Blood. "You people just don't take a hint, do you?" He asked before whapping him with his bo staff.

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"Screw you…and you….you too…." Raven was amusing herself by tossing demons into each other as they made their way across the room. She jumped as Jinx's fist whizzed over her right shoulder.

"And him too, I suppose?" She asked with a smirk as the demon attempting to jump Raven fell to the ground. Raven grinned.

"Yup," She replied as they ran into the elevator. Jinx rolled her eyes and activated the elevator once everyone was in.

"YAAAAHHHHH!" All five of them yelled as the room shot up like a rocket, stopping with a hard jolt. "Remind me to get Starfire to do some of those stretch techniques she used on Robin when this is all over," Beast Boy groaned, rubbing his neck.

Stepping out, the group looked around cautiously. "This must be some sort of armory," Jinx commented. Lining the walls were various guns, swords, shields, and pieces of armor. Raven shook her head grimly.

"No," she said, pointing to the other side of the room. "This is a trophy room," She said, pointing at the various heads of apparently vanquished enemies on a rack on the right side of the room. Everyone but hers' eyes widened, and all of them gave a shudder.

"A staircase? What, did Slade run out of funding?" Wally joked as he spotted stairs on the opposite side of the room. Everyone just shrugged as they made their way towards the stairs. About halfway across the room, they froze, hearing an unfamiliar sound behind them.

Whipping around, they found themselves staring down two hulking, Trigon-like demons. "I think this is where we yell 'Shit!' and run," Sam commented. As soon as she said this, the doors on both sides of the room slammed shut. "Okay, new plan: yell 'Shit!' and take these things down. Shit!" She yelled, ducking as one of the beasts took a slug at her.

"Since Robin isn't here….Titans, GO!" Beast Boy cried. This elicited a look from his girlfriend that clearly read "do that again and I will so dump you." "Oooookay, fine. Let's do it!" He yelled instead, morphing into a triceratops and charging.

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"Well, great. We're beaten, battered and on the run. Now what?" Carrie wondered. They had managed to escape from the battle that had threatened them, and were currently hiding in an underground room, where they had managed to lose their pursuers in the darkness.

"Come up with a game plan?" Roth suggested. Angella sighed.

"Alright, I'm sorry to be a pessimist, but what do we have to work with? Five Azarathians who have no powers and have already taken a pretty sound whooping. We're facing an entire _army _of these damned demons. I mean…" She shook her head and sighed.

"Oh, shit," Carrie said as the lights flipped on. They were surrounded again. No escape would be possible.

"Five versus fifty. We are screwed, gals," Carrie commented, looking around at the laughing, jeering demons. Angella's eyes widened, and she got an idea.

"Halt, my minions!" She cried. They looked at her ,confused. She closed her eyes, and reopened them. All four of them. "**You didn't **_**really **_**believe that a bunch of mortals could truly wipe out the mighty Trigon, did you?" **She boomed in a very good impression of her "father. "**I have simply led these pests deep in here for our amusement. As your commander, I order you, and all of your kin to gather in the throne room immediately. I will be in attendance shortly. You two, stay and help me escort these mortals,**" She said, pointing. And just like that, they nodded and left.

Angella had the demons tie her sisters up, then ordered them to leave.

"Sorry guys. I know it's uncomfortable, but you'll have to deal for a bit," She said. Indeed, the four were tied in a square formation by their wrists and ankles.

"That's putting it midly," Carrie muttered. Angella sighed and began to shuffle them up the stairs and into the throne room "Fair warning: I'm going to smack you guys around. Sorry," She muttered. Putting her Trigon face back on, she addressed the army.

"**All hail my supreme power!" **Angella roared, knocking the others over and causing them to faceplant amongst grunts of pain. Angella looked at the crowd of demons with a triumphant gleam in her eye, and proceeded to punch Carrie in stomach.

"You are _so _going to pay for that later," Carrie hissed in pain. Angella felt terrible, but kept her demonic persona up.

"**Seee?! They are mine to torment as I please! Victory is ours!" **She cried as an uproar of cheers erupted from the crowd. Looking down, she drop-kicked Roth, causing all four of them to roll over. Roth winced and gave her a look that would make the real Trigon piss himself. Another cheer from the crowd emerged.

"**Now, bring forth the Gems containing those pathetic Horsemen!" **Angella bellowed. Three of the demons came forward and presented her with them. She picked them up and smiled. Then that smile twisted into a smirk as the Gems began to shine. A flash lit up the room, causing Angella to shield her eyes.

When the light went away, she saw the remaining three Horsemen standing in full glory. Angella, having dropped the act, looked them dead in the eye. "These demons have overrun this castle and almost killed my sisters. ATTACK!!" She yelled.

It wasn't a pretty sight. Death, War and Pestilence proceeded to charge into battle and destroy the entire crowd of demons. As soon as the last demon was gone, the darkness began to fade from the castle, replaced instead with the glorious decorations that originally lined the walls, ceilings and floors.

A heavenly light shone throughout the castle, and in a flash every single one of the Azarathian sisters were healed. As War cut the bonds that held Angella's sisters, Rose reached up and found that her missing tooth had been restored as well. "Awesome," Rose cheered happily. Angella gulped as Roth and Carrie began to advance on her with hellfire in their eyes.

She received two well deserved slaps to the face and simply laughed despite the stinging in her cheeks. "I said I had to smack you around," She reminded them.

"Since when is drop-kicking considered a smack?" Roth queried. Angella shrugged.

"It worked, didn't it?" She asked. Then she turned to the Horsemen. She began to speak, but was cut off by the sound of galloping. Conquest burst into the throne room, with a perfectly healthy Marylyn holding on tight. Smiling, the Horseman dismounted, Mary following close behind.

"Good work, girls. I'm not sure how you managed to pull it off, but the Horsemen are back. Now we can get down there and end this," Conquest said. The girls and Horsemen nodded.

"So when do we do it?" Carrie asked. War grinned.

"As soon as we get you armed and ready," He replied with a hearty laugh. Angella and Carrie's eyes both lit up like a Christmas tree at the sound of this.

"Alright! Let's go do this then!" Carrie cried excitedly. Conquest sighed, shaking his head, while War grinned again and the other two rolled their eyes.

"Let's get going then, shall we?" War beckoned for everyone to follow.


	16. Crowd Control

-1

"These dudes are tough!" Sam stated the obvious as she backed away from one of the enormous beasts. Her sword was simply bouncing off of their armor, and Raven's powers didn't seem to be having much effect. Beast Boy was the only one giving as good as he got as the Beast, but he was outnumbered.

"Tell me about it," the changeling said as he fell backwards out of morph, sent tumbling by one of the monsters. He got back up, and an idea hit him. Holding his right wrist in front of him, he focused his energies into the Gem that rested in his bracelet. The sword that he had acquired in his battle with Trigon emerged from it, resting in his right hand. He smirked and took it, aiming a strike at the demon in front of him. Part of its armor was cut clean off.

"Wally, catch!" He cried, throwing the weapon at Kid Flash. Getting the idea, the speed-demon caught it and dashed around the room, removing the armor protecting the demons slice by slice. Having lost the only defenses their enemies had, the Titans quickly slashed, punched and threw their enemies for a quick victory.

"Nice thinking, BB," Sam said with a grin, smacking him on the back. "Now if we could figure out a way to get through this door," She finished.

After a full-scale assault on the door and an attempt to faze through, they stopped and glared at the impediment. "Well, great. Now what? The others can't get up her to help, and we can't get down or up. There has to be something…" Jinx trailed off. Everyone fell silent, trying to think of a way out.

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Surprisingly, Mary chose to arm herself heavily. She carried a long sword, twin daggers by her sides, a sizeable stash of shurikens in a small pouch slung over her shoulder, and a round shield on her back.

"Jeez. What happened to Timid?" Carrie muttered as she looked at her sister. Carrie had chosen a trident rather than a sword, claiming that she sucked at using swords. When Rose pointed out that Carrie had never used a sword, Carrie promptly rested her case.

Rose had a bow, with a quiver on her back full of various arrows: flame, freezing, barbed, grapple, and concussive arrows were all at her disposal. War told her that she would never run out of arrows, and that she need only to focus on the type of arrow she wanted before firing it. She also carried an oval-shaped shield.

Lilith, Angella and Roth had opted for more modern arms. Rather than having a sword, Angella favored an AK-47 with a bayonet, which made Carrie smile. Angella had no shield, but she figured she wouldn't need it.

Lilith was partial to a rapid-clip P90, with a small Uzi at her side for backup. And finally, Roth carried an M16 Carbine and several concussive grenades.

Conquest looked at them and almost faceplanted as he sweat dropped. "You let them have _guns_?! We're supposed to be angels, not commandos!" He told War, exasperated. War grinned.

"Of course we're angels. We're getting ready to fight demons. Why not let them have a taste of today's tools of the trade?" He said with a laugh. Conquet sighed.

"Maybe it's just me, but it seems rather unfitting for the heavenly armies to descend wielding assault rifles," The Horseman replied. War laughed, and Death finally spoke up.

"I must agree with War, Conquest. Modern arms are quite effective. They will be of great assistance in this final battle. Speaking of which," He added, "some of your friends are in trouble," He gestured. In front of them appeared what appeared to be a television at first. On it was Raven, Beast Boy, Jinx, Kid Flash and Sam standing in a room.

"Well, great. Now what? The others can't get up her to help, and we can't get down or up. There has to be something…" Jinx said, furrowing her brow.

"Well, let's go make a way, then," Rose said, pointing at one of her concussion arrows. Conquest nodded, and the group of them vanished.

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"What the heck?" Raven backed up as a portal of white light opened up in the room. "Larry? Herald?" She called out. Hearing galloping, she leapt back just in time to avoid being trampled by a red horse with a rider armed with a sword.

From the portal emerged the Four Horsemen, Rose, Lility, Roth, Carrie, Mary and Angella. The five Titans stared, eyes wide, mouths open. "You…you're the Horsemen?" Beast Boy asked, directing the question at War. He nodded and leapt off the horse.

"Indeed. I am War. This is Pestilence, Death, and you've already made acquaintances with Conquest. And I know for certain that you know the rest of our group" He said with a grin, gesturing to the girls.

"So Sophia was right. Awesome! Now, can you help us get out of- wait. Why the _hell _you people have guns?!" Wally yelped, noticing the rifle on Angella's back. Angella and War looked at each other and laughed.

"Hey, no one said we couldn't use guns. Besides, it'll add variety to our assault when we go to throw down with Slade," Angella said. Raven sighed, Beast Boy began laughing, Sam smiled, and Jinx and Wally just goggled. Finally, Rose turned to the wall and notched an arrow.

"What are you, Speedy?" Raven asked. Rose smiled and released, and upon contact the door exploded, leaving a clear pathway to the stairs on the other side. "Oookay, I guess so," The empath said as the small armada made their way up.

"Hold on. Take out that other door too. We need to free the elevator so the others can follow," Jinx said. Turning around, Rose fired another bomb arrow, destroying the locked door. With a satisfied smile, she began to march up the stairs.

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Robin landed in a crouching position, having sliced clean through the last of the demons with his Birdarang sword. Getting up, he smiled and looked at the elevator. "Sophia, you can't teleport, can you?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. I don't know what exactly is doing it, but my powers are being suppressed in this place. I'm sure that the Gems have something to do with it," She said. Robin sighed and nodded. He stared at the elevator, contemplating various plans in his head.

His immediate thought was to send another team up in the elevator for backup, but he realized that too many people increased the chances of friendly fire. He thought about trying to destroy the tower, but he could kill his friends in the process, plus Slade could very well escape.

"Alright, let's stay here for now. We need to plan our next move, and right now we can't really do much anyway," Robin finally decided. Everyone nodded and took a seat on the floor, beginning to voice various opinions and options.

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"We have a breach in security, sir," Slade regarded the demon commander before him coolly, absorbing the information.

"I have all of the Gems. They have nothing. They pose no threat. However…I would like to personally welcome them. Activate the self-destruct mechanism, and be ready. An epic battle is about to take place," He commanded. The Blood nodded and exited the room. Slade smiled and got up, following behind and taking the emergency exit.

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"Warning: Self-destruct command has been given. Detonation in five minutes. Evacuate immediately," Everyone's eyes widened as the computerized voice informed them of the imminent explosion.

"Whoa! Back down the stairs!" Beast Boy cried, dashing across the first room on the third level and morphing a chimpanzee in order to swing his way down the banister. The rest of the group followed closely, hauling to the elevator. Crying out as the elevator shot down, they emerged to find everyone running to the exit.

Argent spotted them from the corner of her eye. "C'mon guys! This place is gonna blow!" She yelled as she dove through the doors. Making a beeline for the exit, Raven and the rest of the Azarathian/heavenly army rushed out the doors. Sure enough, within minutes the tower had imploded, leaving nothing but rubble. Well, rubble and a few hundred demons. And Slade.

"You Titans really are persistent, I'll give you that," The masked man said calmly. Then he frowned. "You… the Four Horsemen?" He questioned. War smirked, Conquest smiled, and the others looked solemnly at him. "No matter. Attack!" He ordered. The Titans all looked at each other, smiled, and pulled out their various arms and/or activated their powers.

It was madness. Arrows, Birdarangs, Starbolts, bullets and shurikens flew, while melee weapons were being swung and stabbed every which way. Demons and Titans alike were bring launched into the air, be it due to an opponent forcing them to fly or simply leaping up to dodge or attack.

Robin suddenly found himself in the middle of the mayhem, facing off with Slade himself. Smirking, Robin withdrew his bo staff as Slade did the same. "Wally, NOW!" Robin yelled. In a blur of yellow and red, Slade lost the false Gem of Murder. Slade snarled.

"You're going to wish he hadn't done that," He said before leaping forward, forcing Robin into Cyborg, who was currently fighting back to back with Hotspot. All three of the Titans fell over each other, taking about five demons with them. Jumping up, Robin met Slade's weapon with his own, giving his teammates time to get back into the game.

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"Do you guys just not learn? Red X is way cooler, smarter, and just all around awesomer than you idiots will ever be," Drake commented as he fired a round of X blades at a nearby demon. Then he saw something that stopped him dead. Time seemed to freeze for him as he saw Starfire get pinned down by a small group of the opposition, a blade plunging downward at her head.

"Oh, fuck that!" The former thief cried, running as fast as he could. He leapt at the demon with the sword…and missed. Instead, the demon's aim was thrown off, and the sword drove itself downward into Drake's right shoulder. Roaring in pain, Drake hit the ground hard. The demon grinned and wrenched the weapon out of his enemy, turning around to tend to Starfire. He never had the chance, as he was sent flying by a wicked punch fueled by Tamaranian rage.

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Starfire rushed over to her savior, picked him up, and flew high above the action. She quickly found that the demons could fight at long-range as she dodged shots of some sort of fire from the ground below, diving and weaving in order to take Red X out of the battle. Finally finding what looked like a safe area 200 or 300 feet away from the fighting, she landed gently, setting Drake softly on the ground.

"Drake? Are you…?" Starfire asked gently. When no response came, she leaned closer and spoke more loudly and firmly. "Drake, answer me if you can," She said. Still nothing. Carefully, she placed her ear to his chest, listening intently for the message of life she prayed to X'hal to hear. But she heard nothing. No pulse, no heartbeat. Her bottom lip began to quiver, and tears glistened in her eyes.

"No…" She whispered. She laid there for 5 minutes, listening, praying that by some miracle his heart would decide that now was not it's time to die. Finally, she rose, closing her eyes and accepting the truth. Clenching her shaking hands into fists, she looked down at the man who had paid the ultimate price in her place for the war. Her eyes glowing green, she took his belt and placed it around her waist. "I'll be back," She promised. With that, she soared off, her cheeks stained with the tears that were streaming down them.

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The two sides were beginning to draw back, although there was still plenty of fighting going on. Robin had lost Slade in the crowd, and was now using his sword to effectively eliminate his opponents. Hearing the sound of someone flying the air, he looked up to see Starfire speeding overheard before she dove at mach speeds. "Starfire!" Robin yelled, running towards the area he thought Starfire had aimed for. He dove to avoid Death as the Horseman galloped through the field, flipped over Syrnium and Mary as they fought back to back against the horde, rolled in-between Raven's legs to avoid knocking her over, and finally leapt, soaring over and narrowly avoiding Sam and her gun.

When he found Starfire, his eyes widened. She was literally tearing demons and Bloods alike apart with her bare hands, giving no one and nothing a chance. But what truly scared the Boy Wonder was the look in his girlfriend's normally innocent and inviting eyes. All of Hell could not have shaken him as much as the sight of Starfire in this state did. "Starfire!" He shouted, running to her. Not even acknowledging his presence, she continued her rampage, leaving the Boy Wonder in her wake of gruesome death. He sped off, mouth open, after her.

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Even though the fighting was still growing strong, the number of demons was dwindling, and the Titans and Horsemen began to gain an edge. Eventually, Raven found herself staring Slade dead in the eye, faced with a terrible dilemma. Slade had somehow managed to take Wally down and reclaimed the Gems, and Murder was pointed at the speedster, ready to kill. Looking around her, Raven noticed that the Titans had finished off the last of the demons, and were now surrounding the standoff.

Slade, too, noticed this fact, and laughed. "It seems we are at a standstill. You move, I destroy the boy's soul. I move, and you outnumber me. Who of you is brave enough to stain your hands with Wally's blood, I wonder?" He said rhetorically. Raven snarled, her hands engulfed in black flame. Unexpectedly, Slade's other gems began to shine, and Beast Boy was tossed into Slade's grip as well, causing Raven to gasp as her eyes widened.

"Might as well up the stakes," Slade said casually. From the sidelines, Jinx was frozen, afraid to make even the smallest of movements for fear of causing her boyfriend's downfall, and Raven suddenly felt the same way. The fire on her hands faded as Slade ripped Beast Boy's gem away from him, tearing away the only defense the changeling had.

"Surrender yourselves, Titans. I have won. There is no need to carry on. Put the guns, the swords, all of your weapons. You have failed. Surrender," He commanded. Raven looked her boyfriend in the eye, shook her head, and fell on one knee in defeat.

The Horsemen looked at one another and nodded sadly. Slade was right. They had failed, failed to destroy the Evil Gods, failed to protect the ones who fought for good, and failed to defend the world. Dismounting, they too went to one knee on the ground. One by one, the Titans fell to their knees. But one stood strong. Slade looked with a smirk.

"Kneel," He ordered. He was faced with a smirk and a shake of the head.

"Not on your life."


	17. Consuming Darkness

-1

"I said KNEEL!" Slade roared, the false Gem glowing brighter.

"Or what?" Starfire asked. Robin looked up, eyes wide. Starfire wasn't…Starfire. She sounded like a whole different person. Slade noticed this as well, and was slightly surprised.

"Or I shall use this, the most powerful of all of the Seven Gems, to kill your friends here," He threatened, gesturing to his captives. Starfire regarded him coolly, raising a hand that glowed a viciously bright green, several times brighter than Robin had ever seen it.

"I would not do that if I were you, Slade. Not if you value your life at all," The Tamaranian warned, glaring hellfire at him. Slade gave a short, barking laugh.

"And who are you, to be dishing out threats when it is I who holds the most powerful weapons in this war? I will give you one final chance, girl. Kneel, or the blood of your friends shall be on your hands," He snarled. Starfire's reply shocked Robin and everyone else.

"No," She said..

"Fine," He said, and with that he shoved both of the captive Titans to the ground. Raising is Gem, he pointed it at Beast Boy and a black ray shot out, hitting the changeling in the stomach. Stepping back to admire his handiwork, he turned to Wally. "One last chance, Starfire," He said. But no one was there. Starfire was no longer standing there.

"Where did she- ungh!" Slade grunted as Starfire flew down and tackled him, piledriving the madman into the ground. The others leapt up, joining the fight, but were soon blown back by the Gem. Slade growled and aimed the Gem at the Kid Flash.

"Say goodbye!" He told them, and the ray shot out and hit the speedster. Turning around, he eyed the others. "Now, if the rest of you wish a quick death instead of a torturous one, I suggest you kneel," He said. Everyone looked at everyone and shook their heads.

"We've got you outnumbered, man," Cyborg said.

"And outmatched," Syrnium added.

"And out powered," Raven said, tapping her forehead. Slade looked at the pale girl.

"Out powered? The Gems are far stronger than your puny telekinesis, girl. You have nothing on me," Slade said with a laugh. Raven smirked.

"You sure about that? Sure that you have the real Gem of Murder? Or did you not know that a fake existed? Maybe we have one final ace, after all," She suggested. Slade's eyes narrowed.

"You lie. I know all about the Seven Gems. There are not eight," He said, a trace of doubt in his tone. Raven smiled.

"Aren't there? Perhaps the reason that Gem is not as powerful as you thought it would be is because it isn't the real deal, Slade. Maybe," She said, pointing to her forehead, "I've got the Gem," She finished. Slade's eyes widened, understanding her message.

"No…It's impossible! There are only seven of these!" Slade said, trying to keep his cool, but panicking slightly. If Raven was right…His entire plan could go wrong at the last second, and the Titans would win.

"Well, if you want proof, turn around," Raven said calmly. Slade narrowed his eyes and looked over his should, not wanting to turn his back on the Titans.

Beast Boy and Wally were standing there, arms crossed and bored looks on their faces. Slade's head whipped back around, eyes wide in fear.

"It's true, Slade. We made copies of the most powerful Gems for safety purposes, in such a case as this. Raven possesses the true Gem of Murder, resting on her forehead. I believe that it is now you who should kneel in defeat," Syrnium suggested, as weapons were picked up and readied. Slade growled.

"I have you. I will NOT lose! Not now!" He roared, pulling something out from hit belt. Syrnium gasped.

"The Siphon!" She cried in surprise as he held it up. Instantly, the power of all seven of the Gems began to stream into the Siphon, and finally the gems dulled to a dark gray, their power dead.

"NOW I have the power," Slade said smugly. He aimed a hand at the small army of both Titans and angels, and his hand began to glow a deep black. Then the glow began to spread across his arm, something Slade was not expecting. Slowly, the black aura began to consume him, leaving Slade wide-eyed as the darkness covered him.

Slade was enshrouded in a dark cloud, and the Titans eyed the scene warily, unsure of what to do. Finally, the cloud exploded outward with a bright light show, causing the Titans to shield their eyes. When they next looked, seven figures emerged from the darkness.

One of them, a woman with long black hair, laughed. She was beautiful, with full lips, bright blue eyes and a short nose, but she exuded an evil that rivaled Trigon. "That pathetic fool! Far too easy to overcome," She said with a smirk.

Another one, a man with no hair at all, nodded. "Agreed, Tarym. As if a mere mortal could control the power of the Dark Gods," He sneered.

"So you're the Evil Gods?" Raven ventured. The seven of them nodded.

"Yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ralmus, the God of Hatred. That witch Elerana subdued me by surprise whilst I was trapped within the Gem, but she could not hold me forever," Said the bald man.

"I am Tarym, the Evil Godess of Violence," The woman who had spoken previously said with a smile.

"The name's Gavortile. I am the Evil God of Narcissism," A man with short brown hair said casually, stepping forward as he did so.

"Call me Velcorina. The Goddess of Greed," A woman in a black dress said, bowing.

"You can call me Reseren. They call me the God of Selfishness," A younger looking man with long red hair said with a flourish of his hands.

"Sycurm, Goddess of Begrudging at your displaceable service," A woman with black eyes and light blue hair said with a smirk and a laugh.

"And I am Amaroudo, the Goddess of Murder," The last one said, her sheet-white skin contrasting starkly against her thin, black lips and red eyes.

"Why didn't you just stay down the first time?" War asked cockily as everyone retrieved their weapons and readied themselves.

"We could have, but what fun would that be? Besides, we've been biding our time for a while now, waiting for you to finally let your guards down, Horseman. And look, you managed to let your very home be invaded by our forces. We allowed this fool to weaken you, and now we have the upper hand in this battle," Amaroudo smirked, while the other gods and goddesses laughed.

"I got three words for you, sister," Sam shot back.

"Oh? And what would those be?" Sycurm asked, a confident smile on her features.

"Bring. It. On," Sam replied. And with that, she threw away her gun and charged headfirst into Sycurm, letting loose a left hook. Sycurm responded by yanking Sam by the hair and pivoting on her toes, swinging Sam around three full rotations before throwing the girl like an Olympic hammer.

Sam growled as she got up, rubbing her head in pain. Meanwhile, Robin had taken it upon himself to go head to head with Tarym. Unlike Sam, Robin proved to be a decent match for the Goddess in a physical fight. Robin quickly learned, however, that the Gods and Goddesses apparently had some sort of telekinetic powers, as he was thrown into the air and then swung hard down into the ground.

The Titans found themselves losing badly, as only Raven and her former emotions could even begin to match the powers of the Goddesses. All of a sudden, they found themselves in a panting, bloodied group, standing or bent over in front of their enemies.

"I was expecting at least _some _challenge. Too bad the fun ended so soon," Gavortile said, sounding bored and disappointed. A noise of agreement rose up from the others. Then Gavortile stopped dead, having felt a sudden presence of power.

"What is that?" The God wondered, looking for the source. Finding Starfire standing directly in front of Raven, he cocked his head. "And just what do you think you're doing?" He asked.

Starfire turned around, and everyone, including the Gods, gasped at what they saw. Raven's chakra gem had transferred, now implanted into Starfire's forehead. And as if this wasn't odd enough, the gem also glowed not with it's usual red hue, but a bright orange.

Looking down, Beast Boy also realized that the Gem of Loyalty had lit up again, this time an unadulterated, brilliant blue. His eyes met Starfire's, and the words needn't have been spoken. The Beast emerged from Beast Boy's figure, and Starfire flew at Sycurm with her hands and eyes glowing the brightest green any of the Titans had ever seen.

"Zota!" Starfire screamed, connecting with a devastating uppercut to the Goddess's chin. The dark entity grunted as she was lifted off her feet by the force of the blow. Not one to let an opportunity to strike go by, Starfire flew upward, got above her opponent, and took her in a chokehold as she slammed her into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Flying upward again, she unleashed a flurry of vicious Starbolts, when the dust and debris cleared, the Goddess lay inert for several minutes. Then, she simply…disappeared. She faded away, leaving no trace of her existence.

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Beast Boy charged straight at Gavortile, slicing with his razor-sharp claws and causing a long, deep cut to appear in his midsection. The God looked down, horrified, before hitting Beast Boy with a beam of black energy. This did absolutely nothing to the changeling, except cause his Gem to generate a shield, deflecting the attack. Leaping up, the Beast landed on Gavortile, pinning him to the ground and roaring in his face. The last thing the God did was widen his eyes in understanding before the Beast leapt up and struck, cutting the God in half.

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The other Titans watched in both amazement and horror as the changeling and Tamaranian utterly annihilated the Gods, the Gems on both of their persons shining brightly. A thought occurred to Robin. "Where'd Drake go?" He wondered aloud. No one had an answer, causing Robin to feel anxious as he wondered where his new friend and Titan could be.

"I'm going to go search," The Boy Wonder finally decided. Cyborg looked his way.

"I'll come with you. If he's nearby, I'll pick up his vitals," He said. Robin nodded, and together the pair ran off, Cyborg keeping an eye glued to his arm.

After what seemed like forever, Robin stopped to take a breath. "Where the hell could he be?" He breathed, both annoyed and worried. Cyborg shrugged. Then his eyes widened.

"I'm picking up a human-sized mass on my radar. Could be him," He suggested. Nodding, Robin ran after his friend, following the radar signal.

Finally, in the distance they spotted Drake lying on the ground. "Drake!" Robin shouted, running over. Cyborg's human face drained of color.

"Robin, I'm not picking up a heartbeat, nor am I getting any brainwave activity," The computerized teen said tersely. Robin's face also became pale.

"Are you saying…?" He asked, terrified of the answer. Cyborg nodded solemnly. Robin's face fell as he looked at the fallen former thief. His lip curled in anger, and he clenched his fists. Shaking, he uttered words in a tone that filled Cyborg with fear. "Someone. Is. Going. To. Pay. For. This," He said. With that, he ran off, Cyborg trailing.

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It was down to two on two. Reseren and Amaroudo vs. The Beast and one rage-filled, pissed off Tamaran war princess. Starfired growled. "Mersa un rakm! Gobork rutha chlorbag! Emar aer ZOTA!" She cried in what the others could only assume to be Tamaranian, as they recognized "Rutha" as "weak" and "chlorbag" as, well, "asshole." Robin would have recognized "Zota," meaning something along the lines of "let's go," but he wasn't present. At least, not at that moment.

Starfire took Amaroudo, and Beast Boy leapt on Reseren with a battle cry. The two Gods tried their best to fend their enemies off, but only Amaroudo was successful in lasting against Starfire, ducking and weaving in order to dodge Starfire's relentless assault.

Finally, it came down the most powerful of the Evil Gods versus two Gem-powered Titans. Amaroudo, sensing defeat, backed away, trying desperately to think of a way to beat these two powerhouses.

"You killed my friend. There is no escape for you," Starfire snarled.

Beast Boy, having de-morphed, nodded. "And you endangered the girl that I love. Repeatedly, I might add. It's over, dude. Give up the ghost," He suggested as he cracked his knuckles and neck.

Amaroudo glared at the two, took five steps back, and lunged unexpectedly at Beast Boy. Unable to react in time, Beast Boy attempted to duck but braced himself. When the blow didn't come, he looked up.

Starfire had caught the Goddess by the throat, and was choking the dark woman. Starfire seemed to be surrounded in an orange aura, which then in turn was consumed by black energy, but Starfire wasn't phased in the least.

"You may be Gods, but you are nothing but evil. And good," She said in a voice full of a righteous fury, looking over at Sophia, who smiled, "always triumphs over evil." With that, she tightened her grip, and Amaroudo fell limp before fading away as the others did.

Smiling, Starfire felt her Gem leave her forehead, and Raven felt it reappearing on her own. Beast Boy also noticed his Gem fade, but it seemed to be releasing energy. Finally, the Gem dulled, and a ball of blue energy took on a human form, which began to mold and transform until Elerana stood there in her true form.

"Sweet! Fresh air! Good work, dudes and dudettes," Elerana congratulated them with a grin, reminding them heavily of the changeling who she had been charged with to protect.

Still smiling in a satisfied manner, Starfire reached down and picked up the Gem Siphon. Raising it, she looked as black energy rose from the seven spots where the Gods had fallen.

The energy snaked around, finally draining into the Siphon until all of it was gone. Holding it in front of her, she looked to Syrnium, who nodded and unsheathed her blade. With one swift slice, the Siphon was split in half, making the destruction of the Gods permanent.

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They stared at the pieces for a moment before they heard people running. Turning, they saw Robin and Cyborg burst onto the scene, Cyborg carrying the limp Drake in his arms.

Everyone gasped and rushed over. "Is he…?" Raven asked. Robin nodded, and Raven hung her head in sadness and shame. _A casualty… all because of me, a casualty in a war fought for me, _She thought. Feeling an arm on her shoulder, she looked up.

"This isn't your fault, Rachel," He said, again surprising her by using her real name. Seeing the disbelieving look on her face, he smiled. "Drake sacrificed himself to save the world from the last of Trigon's army and Slade. He didn't die for you, he died for the world, the universe. It's not your fault," He repeated.

She nodded, conceding the point. Still, she couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes at the sight of her fallen friend. Bending over and looking into Drake's blank eyes, she said, "Rest in peace, Drake." Then she turned around, lost in her thoughts.

Robin turned away, his fists clenched in a strange sort of calm, cold anger. Drake had been someone that he could truly relate to. Both had lost their parents at an early age, both fought crime in one form or another. The difference was that Drake grew up on the streets, while Robin found himself living in a mansion. Losing Drake was, to him, like losing a brother.

Robin turned to the Horsemen. "Guys… Is there any chance we can talk to Drake one final time? Can you arrange it?" He asked, pleading. Death nodded, and extended a hand.

Drake seemed to simply materialize out of the air. He looked exactly as he did in life, costume and all minus the mask. Looking around, he gave a sad smile. "I guess this is it, then," He said. Robin nodded.

"Never thought it'd end like this. I was hoping I'd die in a huge mansion bought with the money I'd get by magically inheriting some random relative's million dollars or something. Oh well, not like I have a choice now," He said humorously.

"Drake… we'll miss you. I'll miss you. You were like a brother in the short time we knew each other as more than just Robin and Red X," Robin said, voice heavy with emotion. Drake nodded.

"Yeah. I'm gonna miss you guys too. Heaven's probably gonna be real boring. No babes, no crime to fight, no nothing. Hopefully I'm wrong," He added, looking at the Horsemen. They just shrugged.

"Anyway… It's time for me to go, guys. I'm glad I had a chance to say one last goodbye," Drake said. He began to walk towards the Horsemen, but he was stopped by a voice.

"Drake, please wait," Starfire asked. Turning around, he cocked his head. Closing her eyes, she took a breath in. "You sacrificed your very life in order to save my life. I wish to give you my deepest thanks. Not only did you rescue me, you saved the Titans even more grief than we are already experiencing. You did a tremendous final service, and for that I thank you," She said, tears streaming down her smiling face. Drake nodded and returned the smile.

"Not a problem, cutie," He told her. With that, he looked to Death, and Death nodded as Drake faded away.

"I believe we should be going, as well," Syrnium said. Elerana and the Horsemen nodded, and together they faded into the air in the same way Drake did.

Everyone looked to Robin, who nodded. "We should be leaving, too," He said. Picking Drake up in his arms, he looked to Raven and the Nevermore sisters. With a small nod, the Azarathians teleported the group back to Jump City.


	18. Final Words

-1

"We are gathered here today to pay our last respects and wishes to Drake Mit, otherwise known as Red X," Robin said, struggling to keep his voice level. The Teen Titans, Titans East, and Titans West were all present the next day, attending the funeral that was proceeding in front of Titan's Tower. Robin took a breath and continued.

"Drake was a hero in life, whether he admitted it or not. His death was not in vain; he sacrificed himself to save one of our own, who in turn played an important role in defeating the Evil Gods," Robin continued. Then he looked up. "Does anyone have anything they'd like to add?" He asked. Raven nodded, as did Starfire.

Looking at the coffin, with it's red X emblazoned on it's glossy black surface, Raven closed her eyes. "Drake…He was a casualty in a war that all began because of the one that called himself my father," She took a breath here, then continued.

"I… I don't blame myself for your death, Drake. You died to free me, and I cannot and never will be able to thank you enough. You've delivered my life into my hands, and I'll do the best I can with it. I promise," She told the deceased hero, looking skyward. Then she turned and accepted Beast Boy's embrace, unable to stop crying into his shoulder.

Starfire stepped over to the coffin next. "On my planet, warriors who display such bravery and sacrifice for Tamaranian royalty are honored with this," She pulled a medallion from her pocket, a red stone of some kind with intricate, golden laces crisscrossed all around it. "This is a _tunron _stone, and it is a very precious stone, only used to honor people like yourself," She explained to the coffin, placing the stone on the coffin and hoping Drake could hear her.

"Anyone else?" Robin asked. No one spoke up, so he nodded. "Then I have this to say. Drake was the kind of man who wasn't afraid of much. Sometimes it got him in trouble, other times it saved his and others' lives. He was very similar to me, and losing him is a very difficult thing made even more so for that reason. Drake, we'll miss you. You will always be remembered," He promised. Then he looked around.

"We bury Drake Mit here, today, in front of the one place he could never get into in life," He said, motioning to Beast Boy and Cyborg with a small smile. Nodding, they both got an end of the coffin and lowered it into the hole that Terra had dug.

"Goodbye," Robin whispered.

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**3 Months Later**

"Well, we don't have that particular book in at the moment, but I can order it for you," Sophia told the teenaged, long blonde-haired girl before her requesting "The Golden Compass." The girl nodded, and Sophia looked over at Carrie, who wrote down the girl's name, number, and the book she wanted.

Almost immediately after the girl left, she heard a crash. "Oh, for Azar's sake," Sophia sighed with a slight smile. Knowing what she would find, she walked to the back room of "Azar Books," to find Cyborg buried amidst a pile of books. "Victor, you elevate 'bull in a china shop' to an art form, you know that?" She said airily as she began to extract him.

"Oh, shut up, Banana Girl," Cyborg muttered as he picked himself up. Sophia rolled her eyes at the nickname and began floating books onto the shelf that Cyborg had been trying to reach before he fell off the ladder. Cyborg smiled and began doing the same, using a bionic extension to reach higher shelves.

"I can't believe we didn't have that one in stock, really," Sophia admitted as if it were a heinous crime. Cyborg grinned.

"Yeah, why didn't you? For shame," He teased, causing Sophia turn to him with a smile that Cyborg recognized as the "you're asking for it" look.

"Oh, shut it. You were three versions behind on your security software when we first met, if I recall correctly. So I _really _wouldn't be talking if I were you," She said with a smirk. Cyborg opened his mouth, closed it, and finally hung his head.

"Touché'," He admitted. Then he looked back up. "About ready to close?" He asked. Sophia looked at the clock in surprise.

"The time sure did seem to fly today, didn't it?" Sophia asked as she saw 8 pm on the digital readout. Cyborg nodded, and together they locked the doors to the bookstore and returned to the Tower.

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"Well, at least you got a couple hits in this time," Sam said, a smirk playing on her face as she looked at a thoroughly trashed Boy Wonder. Frowning, Robin picked himself up and shook his head.

"I'm just glad you're on our side," He told Sam with a laugh. She grinned and nodded, and together the two sparring partners began to do some stretches to loosen up after the battle.

Robin looked up as the door swished open. Starfire entered, two ham sandwiches in her hands. "I thought you might want some Earth food rather than a Tamaranian dish," She told him with an amused look at her demolished boyfriend. Robin smiled and sat on the floor, taking one of the sandwiches and nodding. Sam followed suite, and Starfire left them after getting two thumbs-up of thanks.

"You're a lucky S.O.B, Robin," Sam commented through a mouthful of ham. Robin just grinned and nodded.

"I know," He replied simply.

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"You do look as if the can of 'butt-whoop' has been opened on you in generous portions, you know," Starfire told Robin rather amusedly as Raven continued to heal Robin's various bruises. Robin scowled, and Raven smirked, her lip quivering as she held back laughter.

"Do you have to rub it in? You're supposed to support me, not laugh at me," He complained. Starfire just shook her head and sighed. Raven, on the other hand, was not going to let it go quite so easily.

"It _is _rather sad. The guy that whooped ass on Slade, Trigon, and countless other villains continually gets it handed to him by a girl. Maybe we should call Batman up, see what he thinks?" She said with a grin as she stood back to ensure she had completed the job. Robin's eyes widened.

"You-you wouldn't!" He spluttered. Raven just continued to grin. Robin pointed a green-gloved finger at the Azarathian. "You do that, and I'll tell Beast Boy about all the Barbie memorabilia you've got stashed away in Azarath," He said with a smirk. Now it was Raven's turn to splutter.

"I GOT THOSE WHEN I WAS SIX!! It's called sentimental value!" She yelled, fuming because she knew that he had won. Robin just smirked.

"Sure, Raven, sure," He said. Starfire sighed again as Raven undid the work she had been doing for the last ten minutes.

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Angella, Rose, Mary and Roth looked down at confusion at the…thing…on the kitchen table. Angella scratched the back of her head, looking around the enlarged area. The Titans had to do some expanding in the kitchen and other places in order to accommodate their new members, so the kitchen was even bigger than before.

"I could have sworn I did it right. Three eggs, two teaspoons of sugar…oh. That's why," She said sheepishly as she looked at the runny liquid that was supposed to be cake batter. Mary quirked an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked.

"It's supposed to be three cups of milk and half a cup of water, not the other way around," She admitted. Roth slapped her forehead.

"Angella, even Starfire can make cake batter," She told her sister, shaking her head in sheer exasperation. Angella's eyes went wide and her mouth fell to the floor. That was a pretty bad insult; even Starfire knew that.

"That was low," Mary commented. Angella dumped the "batter" down the drain and started over. Again, it came out too runny for batter, albeit somewhat solid. Roth looked at Angella, snatched the cookbook away from her, and looked back up with "you are an idiot" written on her face.

"You're reading a recipe for vanilla pudding, Angie," She said with a smirk, holding out the book for Angella to see. Angella blushed.

"Oh." Was all she said. Tossing yet another failed attempt away, Angella finally managed to create actual batter while the other two began preparing icing. Angella beamed in satisfaction.

"All done!" She said happily. The other two looked over, apprehensive.

"It looks safe," Roth joked, causing Angella to frown. Peering down, Mary dipped her finger into the mix and stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes widened, and suddenly she ran out of the room.

The others looked after her, bemused. "What the hell?" Roth wondered. Then she narrowed her eyes. "What all did you put into that?" She asked.

"Everything the book said to, plus a little cherry juice for flavor!" She explained happily. Roth began to smile, a good idea of what happened forming in her mind.

"Can I see the cherry juice?" She asked. Angella nodded and handed Roth a glass bottle. Roth grinned as she turned it over, seeing the cactus and cowboy hat, as well as the Tostitos logo. It was chili pepper dip.

"Angie, read the labels better," She told the girl, holding up the bottle. Angella's face drained of color as she realized her mistake. Then she smiled, a dangerous smile that made Roth wary.

"You're not…" But she was. Pouring the mix into three pans, she stuck them in the oven. "You're cruel, you know that?" Roth asked, unable to stifle a smile at the thought of what was to come.

Angella just smiled and began humming as she worked on the icing.

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"I made something special for desert," Angella said happily, bringing out the cakes with help from her partners in crime.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy cried.

"Well, this is a surprise," Robin commented, smiling as Roth put a piece in front of him. Struggling to keep a straight face, sat down and waited as everyone was served.

"This is you guys' first time coking, right?" Cyborg asked. They nodded. "Looks pretty good. Nice work!" He told them. They smiled even wider than they already were.

Starfire was the first victim. She made the mistake of taking a large chunk out and shoving it in her mouth, showing off her Tamaranian table manners. Eyes wide and watering, she flew at top speed out of the kitchen. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. Starfire must have really not liked it. Don't take offense, girls. Probably just didn't set well with her Tamaranian tastes," He reassured him. Cutting a pieced off of his serving, the clueless Boy Wonder chewed. He choked and swallowed, waving air into his mouth.

"Dude! What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's- freaking - augh!" Robin spluttered, reaching desperately for his water. Draining the glass in one swallow, he ran to the sink for more.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what the hell?" She wondered. Narrowing her eyes at the cake, realization hit her and she spotted the chili dip sitting out of place at the table. "Gar, no!" She tried to stop him, but it was too late. He, too, joined Robin at the sink.

"No one eat that!" Raven told the others. Everyone else nodded, and Raven looked directly at Angella. "I have to admit, that was pretty good," She remarked. Angella beamed again.

"I thought so. It was a mistake at first. I thought it was cherry juice. But…Hey, opportunity knocked," She said with a laugh. Realizing that the others were still confused, Angella got up and walked to the counter, shaking the chili bottle in her hand.

A moment of silence fell upon everyone present, and then there was an uproar of laughter from those who hadn't fallen prey to the spice.

"That…was not…right," Robin said when he was able to speak again. Beast Boy laughed.

"Wow. That was awesome!" He said, still feeling a slight burn in his mouth.

Raven just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was about to speak when the alarm went off.

"Dr. Light?" Raven grinned. Dr. Light was plenty scared of Raven. What would he do when he was surrounded by multiple Ravens?

Everyone looked at Raven, looked at Mary, Sam, Sophia, Angella, Carrie, Roth and Rose, and laughed. "Titans, Go!" Robin yelled. Flying by him, Raven gave him a solid whack on the head as she left.

_Thanks, Drake, _Raven thought to herself as she flew out into the night air.


End file.
